investing in a business while on H1b

[gapkj]

Hi

I am in US on a H1B visa.

My friends are recently starting a business. I would like to be a partner in their business.

I want to invest in the business.

My friends are green card holders.

 

Can I be a partner in the business?

Which is the best thing to start? C-corp vs S-corp Vs LLC.

I do not want to have any issues with immigration in future.

 

Thank you

 

[jairichi]

Hi

I am in US on a H1B visa.

My friends are recently starting a business. I would like to be a partner in their business.

I want to invest in the business.

My friends are green card holders.

 

Can I be a partner in the business?

Which is the best thing to start? C-corp vs S-corp Vs LLC.

I do not want to have any issues with immigration in future.

 

Thank you

You can be a passive investor but you cannot derive any income out of it.

[t75]

If you and they are asking such questions, you all need to consult an attorney and CPA.  You especially need to see an attorney to protect your investment since you cannot be involved in the business other than giving it money.

[JoeF]

Hi

I am in US on a H1B visa.

My friends are recently starting a business. I would like to be a partner in their business.

I want to invest in the business.

My friends are green card holders.

 

Can I be a partner in the business?

Which is the best thing to start? C-corp vs S-corp Vs LLC.

I do not want to have any issues with immigration in future.

 

Thank you

You can be a passive investor, i.e., putting money into the business, and, if the business becomes successful, getting dividends. You have to stay out of the business otherwise, i.e., you can not work for the business, not even for free. You can not even take the trash out for the business...

As for company form, that's also something that's not your decision to make. For an S-Corp, all shareholders have to be US citizens or Permanent Residents (except in a husband-and-wife scenario, where at least one has to be a US citizen or LPR.)

[boiler7up]

I understand that h1b can be a shareholder/passive investors/founder but cant work actively for the company. What is considered work - is modern day work considered work - example blogging, social media posting? is blogging on that company's blog termed as work? even if the blogging activity is unpaid and a guest blogger type role?

[JoeF]

I understand that h1b can be a shareholder/passive investors/founder but cant work actively for the company. What is considered work - is modern day work considered work - example blogging, social media posting? is blogging on that company's blog termed as work? even if the blogging activity is unpaid and a guest blogger type role?

All that is work.

Being a passive investor means putting money into a business and otherwise staying completely out of it.

Think about it as investing. If you buy stock of a big company, you become a passive investor. You don't blog for the company, you don't post on the company's social media accounts.

Unpaid or "guest blogger" doesn't matter.

You can't do any of this.

[t75]

If you cannot comply with the rules of your visa status, go home where you can do whatever you want.

[suhasmahajan85]

Hi gapkj,

 

Have you able to form LLC as passive investor It will be great if you share what worked for you?

 

Any help will be appreciated.

[AS3957]

On 4/23/2014 at 6:42 PM, JoeF said:

You can be a passive investor, i.e., putting money into the business, and, if the business becomes successful, getting dividends. You have to stay out of the business otherwise, i.e., you can not work for the business, not even for free. You can not even take the trash out for the business...

As for company form, that's also something that's not your decision to make. For an S-Corp, all shareholders have to be US citizens or Permanent Residents (except in a husband-and-wife scenario, where at least one has to be a US citizen or LPR.)

For S-Corp, yes, all partner have to be US citizen. What about LLC? Can I on H1b be a passive partner in LLC?