Green Card and start a business

[bhalc]

Hello Friends,

I want to know at what stage of Green Card once can legally start a business. This will be as secondary source of income.

Please let me know.

Thanks,

[jairichi]

Hello Friends,

I want to know at what stage of Green Card once can legally start a business. This will be as secondary source of income.

Please let me know.

Thanks,

I believe anytime you can start your own business with a GC.

[catx]

If you are pursuing permanent residency (green card) through employment (employer sponsor) and you are on a H-1B visa, then you can only start a business after you are approved for and receive your actual permanent residency visa (green card).

[JoeF]

Hmm, why would you need a secondary source of income? For employment sponsorship, your income would have to be higher than for most Americans. Or are you working for some shady consulting company that doesn't pay you properly?

[chakrakr]

If you are pursuing permanent residency (green card) through employment (employer sponsor) and you are on a H-1B visa, then you can only start a business after you are approved for and receive your actual permanent residency visa (green card).

 

Not quite true.   Legally OP can start a business as soon as he get EAD (after filing 485).  There is no legal requirement to wait till GC is approved

[madhu418]

A lesson I learnt from my father experiences who is a farmer (INDIA) is "never keep all your eggs in one basket". No matter how much money you make at a primary source, your life can turned upside down at the blink of an eye if the controlling person decides to do so. with that said no harm in making more money "LEGALLY" and "ETHICALLY".

 

I am not sure how consultancy companies treat their GC employees. I have to experience this or hear from others.

 

I recently met a guy in his early 40's and he is a GC holder, he has enough experience in his field of work that he formed a company and works as an independent contractor. he earn 2-3 times more than H1B employee and has the luxury be out of job for couples of months a year. Hopefully i will get to that stage soon..

[JoeF]

A lesson I learnt from my father experiences who is a farmer (INDIA) is "never keep all your eggs in one basket". No matter how much money you make at a primary source, your life can turned upside down at the blink of an eye if the controlling person decides to do so. with that said no harm in making more money "LEGALLY" and "ETHICALLY".

 

I am not sure how consultancy companies treat their GC employees. I have to experience this or hear from others.

 

I recently met a guy in his early 40's and he is a GC holder, he has enough experience in his field of work that he formed a company and works as an independent contractor. he earn 2-3 times more than H1B employee and has the luxury be out of job for couples of months a year. Hopefully i will get to that stage soon..

You can make a lot of money as a contractor, but you can also have a lot of hard times.

I have met people who made $2K a year in their consulting business, for 2 years in a row. So, the money they made in the years before got them through these years.

And it is a LOT of hard work. No weekends, no vacations, etc.

This "be your own boss" stuff comes with a price. Most people don't think of that beforehand.

[JoeF]

And another thing, as a contractor you have to have people skills, you have to have good communication skills, both verbally and in writing. I see that somewhat lacking in the OP, based on his post.

And you have to be self-motivated, doing things pro-actively, including research (asking a basic question on a forum isn't research...)

[rahul412]

 he earn 2-3 times more than H1B employee and has the luxury be out of job for couples of months a year.

H1B is for "high skilled labor", which obviously means that person should/ is getting a good salary. If he is not, then something is wrong.

 

Moreover, salary is based on the designation not on age or legal status. If you got good talent then without GC you can make tons of money.