Spouse working on H1 and she wants to a business

[mprabagar80]

First of all, thanks to all the contributors. I follow the forums closely and it clarifies many of my doubts.

My PD is Jan'2010. Both myself and my spouse filed I-485 and got the EAD cards.

I am the primary applicant. My wife is already working on H1-B. Now she wants to start an online eCommerce store (Where should get business and 1099 from IRS point of view)

Is she allowed to do that?

Does she have to resign from her current job? If not, does she have to change her status with her current employer and start the company?

Any clarifications is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[mprabagar80]

Sorry, the title makes it look like spouse is on H1 and wants to start business. We are already got EAD cards, but have not changed our status yet.

[JoeF]

As soon as she works for somebody other than her H1 employer, including for her own company, she would work outside of the scope of the H1, and hence would not be on H1 anymore. She would then be "pending AOS", and utilize the EAD.

She could continue to work with her current employer, but would just not be on H1 anymore.

And she should check her employment contract. A lot of employers don't allow their employees to moonlight somewhere else without approval from the employer. One of the reasons is that employers don't want to have their employees work for the competition on the side...

[mprabagar80]

Thank you for the quick response. She is contacting her employer that she wants to go from H1 to "Pending AOS" status and continue working with her EAD. Also, she is going to inform them about the eCommerce store. If her employer approves, does she allowed to do her current work and online store using her EAD. She will have one W2 from her employer and 1099 from the online store. Is there any other legal issues?

[JoeF]

For creating a business, there is a bunch of paperwork, from tax id (not really necessary if the person doesn't have employees, without employees, the SSN can be used as tax id), to business license from the city.

But that's about it.