4 ms·
Ask HN Can "Aliens" (foreigners) start a company in US?
I'm a foreigner (alien) in US. Been here for about a year. I'm on H1B visa, consulting for a company here (hence I have SSN, but nothing else). If I want to start a company, how easy is it / is it allowed? Anyone have such experience here? How about a simple thing such as having Adsense on my site? Is it that I can get paid only by my H1B sponsor, in which case not even this adsense thing is possible?
- jff 18y agoI worked for a startup run by a Canadian and a Japanese a few years back, so I assume so...
- davidw 18y agoHave a look here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465532 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465532
- jacquesm 18y agoAbsolutely. I've done this myself in Michigan while I was living abroad. The process cost me about $1200 in legal stuff including a business return address at a lawyers office and all the state fees for the registration.
- cutechimp 18y agoThat is awesome. If you did it while abroad, then I should be able to do it while being in person, here in US. HN is awesome. Thank you so much. If it is OK to ask, yours was a web based biz? or was it not software related? I'm thinking of doing websites, either advertising or subscription model.
- tokenadult 18y agoI used to be an immigration lawyer for a law firm in a city full of high-tech industry. In the best case, with careful legal advice, your new business could become a legal basis for staying in the United States, as well as your source of income. That depends on the financials, of course, and depends on the structure of the company. The law has changed since I last actively practiced this area of law, but there could be a path for you to change careers this way and stay in the States if that is your desire.
- cutechimp 18y agoI can stay here only as long as I have my H1B visa AND work for the company that sponsored it. I'd like to start something part time and see how/where it goes before taking it up full time. Any sites/URLs to get more info on this?
- known 18y agohttp://murthyforum.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic?a=cfrm&s=1024039761 http://murthyforum.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic?a=cfrm&s=10... is good for Visa and Immigration related topics.
- makecheck 18y agoYou can't work for yourself, because your visa only allows you to work for your "sponsoring" company. Though I think you can start a company, someone else would have to be completely in charge of running it (which for many people isn't the reason they'd start one in the first place). You can't participate at all, or the visa terms are violated. But you can make money...for example, if you have stock, as this wouldn't be any different than any other "passive" investment. The problem is, you still risk your visa status if you break any rule. Changing your status first is definitely safer in my opinion.
- cutechimp 18y agoHmmm. Changing visa status? That will take a couple of years at the minimum, right? Is there any other way?