Can H1Bs start their own firm


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You can start a company on H1B and be a passive member and that means you cannot hold 100% stock. That said, the last couple of years, people on H1B are being discouraged from having their own company. A better way will be to have a person with a GC/USC as a partner, register the company under their name and be added as a Director. Give the person some amount of shares. Get compensated if you absolutely have to, but at irregular intervals. Else find other means of getting compensated, in kind or maybe in India.

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21 hours ago, Mantu said:

Dear All,

I am currently on H1B visa and came to USA 6 months back as a Sales Manager SOC Code: 11-2022. Can I start my own firm or register a company in my name with 100% shareholder (no partners)?

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

Working for the company in any form is not allowed, not even for free.

Read https://www.murthy.com/2014/01/28/home-based-businesses-inadvertent-unauthorized-employment/

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11 hours ago, Subbuparam said:

You can start a company on H1B and be a passive member and that means you cannot hold 100% stock. That said, the last couple of years, people on H1B are being discouraged from having their own company. A better way will be to have a person with a GC/USC as a partner, register the company under their name and be added as a Director. Give the person some amount of shares. Get compensated if you absolutely have to, but at irregular intervals. Else find other means of getting compensated, in kind or maybe in India.

Thank you so much for guiding me. If I register a firm in my name and then can't I get my H1 transferred to my own firm and keep the 100% stake with me? I know there would be difficulties and might be a possibility that my H1 can't go through or get transferred and I need to return to India. So can I work from India for company and hiring some employees here in USA?

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1 hour ago, Mantu said:

Thank you so much for guiding me. If I register a firm in my name and then can't I get my H1 transferred to my own firm and keep the 100% stake with me? I know there would be difficulties and might be a possibility that my H1 can't go through or get transferred and I need to return to India. So can I work from India for company and hiring some employees here in USA?

How would you transfer the H1? You can't do it yourself, that would be illegal work for the company. You also can't instruct somebody else to fill out the paperwork, the act of telling somebody to do it is also work.

Further, a college degree is not required to run a company, so it is not possible to get an H1 for that to begin with.

The bottom line: This is not going to work. Period.

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You cannot transfer your H1 to your own company. The USCIS clause for that is called "misrepresentation", and you will never be allowed back into the US.

I have a friend who registered a company under his wife's name, was a full-time employee, decided to become a consultant and transferred to his wife's company. His H1b was approved, and he worked for a year on that H1, but when he went to India on a trip and hence for stamping they rejected it. What he didn't realize was that she is his dependent (H4-EAD) and her name is on the Incorporation papers as well. It is a conflict of interest. He has been trying to come back for the last year with no luck. He has tried every single famous attorney with no luck. even his tourist visa got denied. He had lived in the US for 12 years prior to this incident. He lost his home, cars, everything!

Edited by Subbuparam
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