Opening a LLC on H1B in US


nvedia

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I am currently on H1B with I140 approved. 

I wanted to know if its fine to open a LLC in US with not working for it as I would be the only person in that company.

There is a friend of mine in India and my involvement would be to send the money he gets in company's account to him (India). Is there any way this is allowed?

 

I know we can create LLC if we dont work for it but with only me being only one in the company and getting money in the name of company's account and sending to Indian friend is permitted?

 

Please note that I do not want to go with option of creating LLC on wife's name as she is on H1B as well and applying for H4 EAD might take months for which we need a job gap as she is working

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  • 2 weeks later...

On H1, you can only be a passive investor, putting money into a.business and otherwise completely staying out of it.

Sending money somewhere is work, and you can not do that. Period.

So  you are saying there is no other workaround for this problem? 

All I want to do is open a merchant account so that customers in US can send money to and that money reaches Indian account 

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So  you are saying there is no other workaround for this problem? 

All I want to do is open a merchant account so that customers in US can send money to and that money reaches Indian account 

 

That is not allowed on H1. Period.

These are the rules of the H1. If you don't like it, you would have to leave the US

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That is not allowed on H1. Period.

These are the rules of the H1. If you don't like it, you would have to leave the US

No I am not leaving US lol

 

Let me rephrase and see if this is ok 

 

An Indian citizen (non US resident and never been to US)  + me (on H1B with I140 approved) would form a LLC in US(preferably in Delaware) and all the work would be done by the person in India 

The things needed are getting  a LLC open (probably use legalzoom ?),  US Business bank account , merchant service account to accept CC/cheque payments, PO box to get mails

Since everything is online, all merchant activities, transfers etc can be done online

Only for PO box, I need to give a physical address which I believe its fine for me to verify 1583 USPS form

 

What are the hurdles in doing above? Can we get a local agent who can help with some of the tasks initially?

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No I am not leaving US lol

 

Let me rephrase and see if this is ok 

 

An Indian citizen (non US resident and never been to US)  + me (on H1B with I140 approved) would form a LLC in US(preferably in Delaware) and all the work would be done by the person in India 

The things needed are getting  a LLC open (probably use legalzoom ?),  US Business bank account , merchant service account to accept CC/cheque payments, PO box to get mails

Since everything is online, all merchant activities, transfers etc can be done online

Only for PO box, I need to give a physical address which I believe its fine for me to verify 1583 USPS form

 

What are the hurdles in doing above? Can we get a local agent who can help with some of the tasks initially?

 

So, who would open the bank account? Who would file company taxes?

A company has to have an actual physical address for that.

And you can't fill out any forms, not even a USPS form for a mailbox. That would be active involvement.

 

The bottom line: This is NOT going to work.

Your friend will have to find and pay somebody with work authorization to do this stuff.

Geez. Your friend's business must be doing really badly if he can't even afford to do this the right way, without breaking laws.

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I do and I guess I know that route but then that involves too much of hassle with profit sharing/explaining etc which i am trying to avoid as ownership solely would be of GC holder 

 

It would be way more hassle if you did it illegally. It would kill your future in the US,

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It would be way more hassle if you did it illegally. It would kill your future in the US,

I am not doing anything illegally and nor planning to - thanks 

 

This whole immigration thing is so funny and idiotic that there is no logic behind all these rules 

Therefore, one needs to spend time to understand to figure how things can be done and that's what I am doing - trying to find a solution 

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I am not doing anything illegally and nor planning to - thanks 

 

This whole immigration thing is so funny and idiotic that there is no logic behind all these rules 

Therefore, one needs to spend time to understand to figure how things can be done and that's what I am doing - trying to find a solution 

 

The logic is that an H1 is a temporary work visa to work for one employer, and that employer only.

An H1 is not for running a business.

To run a business, a person needs unrestricted work authorization, like a Greencard.

It isn't really all that hard.

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The logic is that an H1 is a temporary work visa to work for one employer, and that employer only.

An H1 is not for running a business.

To run a business, a person needs unrestricted work authorization, like a Greencard.

It isn't really all that hard.

 

And we will not get the Green card until employers and lawyers stop lobbying :) 

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And we will not get the Green card until employers and lawyers stop lobbying :) 

 

Greencard and H1 are two different, unrelated things.

You don't even need to be in the US to get a GC.

As far as the quotas for the GC are concerned, employers and lawyers would love to see them increased.

The current majority in Congress (GOP) doesn't want that, though. Congress makes the laws.

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These are two different things but they are related. Just take a look at the no.of H1 employees waiting for GC, you will know the relation.

You are right about the 'related' thing

Lawyers want more and more H1B so that there are extensions, and more and more GC waiting so that there are extensions too

They never want anyone to get GC or backlog problem solved

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You are right about the 'related' thing

Lawyers want more and more H1B so that there are extensions, and more and more GC waiting so that there are extensions too

They never want anyone to get GC or backlog problem solved

And these senior members never talk about these issues. They preach us about US immigration laws and doesn't support the bills that try to fix the broken system.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Geez. Just look at the immigration law.

For ALL work in the US, a foreigner needs to have work authorization. An H1 is work authorization for one employer only.

What part of that don't you understand???

On H1, only passive investment is allowed. You can NOT work for another employer, which also means you can not work for your own company (it would another employer.)

I suggest you start reading https://www.murthy.com/2014/01/28/home-based-businesses-inadvertent-unauthorized-employment/

And you can of course also schedule a consultation with an immigration lawyer, who will tell you the same thing.

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On 9/26/2016 at 10:38 AM, GcLLC said:

My question to OP is this: Why do you want to open a company "to send money to India?"  Indian companies can open accounts in foreign banks and receive payments in USD. There are many services that let Indian merchants accept US credit cards as well. 

Not to send money to India, that was part of it

To answer your question, I want to open a company to do Business in USA

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1 hour ago, nvedia said:

Not to send money to India, that was part of it

To answer your question, I want to open a company to do Business in USA

Again, on H1, you can only be a passive investor. You can put money into a company and otherwise completely stay out of it.

The H1 is a visa for employment, not for doing business.

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3 hours ago, JoeF said:

Again, on H1, you can only be a passive investor. You can put money into a company and otherwise completely stay out of it.

The H1 is a visa for employment, not for doing business.

Yes I get that - thanks

I was just explaining to him since he thought I just want to transfer money

Isn't it pretty funny that on L1 you can only work, but on L2 EAD you can pretty much do any jobs or do Business

Same for H1B and H4 EAD (So being on H4 is more powerful)

Clearly these rules are made with no common sense or logic at all 

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