Why can't H1Bs with approved I-140 legally start their own business?

[crazyim5]

Hello everyone, 

This is my first post here, so please pardon me if I don't follow any customary decorums. I'm yet another high-skilled immigrant from India and I came to this country for education. I have spent several years in this country (both studying and working) and have been in the long line, forever waiting for my green card. I legally stay here on the dreaded H1B visa and I have my I140 approved a while ago.

My question is simple, why can't people like me legally start a company? Doesn't approved I-140 mean my green card application has been approved by the DHS and I'm on the wait only because of bureaucratic paperwork? Had I been from Poland or Ghana, I would have gotten my green card by now and free to do whatever I like. Why is the land of the free "punishing" me for my place of birth?

What is the legal explanation for this? And what options/workarounds do I have besides the Eb5 category that costs 500 grand?

[JoeF]

First off, you can start a company, you can just not work for it without the appropriate work authorization.

Second, the immigration law has per-country limits on Greencards. This really isn't anything new. Laws generally aren't changed on a whim. The last attempt at a comprehensive immigration reform was several years back, and Congress decided to not approve a change in the laws. Nobody is "punishing" you. That mindset is actually bad if you want to start a business... There are other categories of people who are waiting quite a bit longer for a GC.

And the I-140 doesn't quite mean the GC is approved. It is one step of the three steps.

[crazyim5]

Thank you for replying to my post! I used the word "punishment" because it seems quite unfair, not everyone may admit it but it's true! The reason HR.392 isn't passing through because of corporate lobbyists. 

Anyway, I meant to start this thread to discuss legal pain points and find out more information on this subject, not to have an argument on moral grounds. 

I realize having approved I-140 doesn't guarantee Green Card and the process is far from over but getting I-140 approved is the hardest step and rest are meager paperwork. 

For the benefit of the readers, here a flowchart of employment-based gc process

[JoeF]

Why do you think "corporate lobbyists" prevents this bill to get out of committee? Applying Occam's Razor would result in the more likely reason being that the majority of Congress is anti-immigrant.

If you don't want a discussion on "moral points", then please don't spread allegations like this BS about corporate lobbyists. Corporate lobbyists have bigger fish to fry. They don't care about these relatively few immigrants.

And even your subject line was already wrong, as I mentioned in my first answer. Anybody can invest in or start a business. To work for the business requires the appropriate work authorization. There is a difference between starting a business and running a business...

And for high-tech entrepreneurs, there is an option in form of the H1 for entrepreneurs (although Trump was threatening to cancel it, as part of the anti-H1 push): https://www.murthy.com/2012/12/17/entrepreneur-h1b-petitions-a-new-option-for-start-up-companies/

Quite frankly, these things come up once in a while, and I usually find that most people are just venting (which is understandable due to the long delays) but haven't actually thought things through. So, the venting may make people feel good for the moment, but won't accomplish anything. Knowing the topic at hand, and not exaggerating helps getting politicians to listen.

And it is of course also funny that somebody who wants to start a company complains about company lobbying...

[Neda]

15 hours ago, crazyim5 said:

Thank you for replying to my post! I used the word "punishment" because it seems quite unfair, not everyone may admit it but it's true! The reason HR.392 isn't passing through because of corporate lobbyists. 

Anyway, I meant to start this thread to discuss legal pain points and find out more information on this subject, not to have an argument on moral grounds. 

I realize having approved I-140 doesn't guarantee Green Card and the process is far from over but getting I-140 approved is the hardest step and rest are meager paperwork. 

For the benefit of the readers, here a flowchart of employment-based gc process

Welcome to the world of modern slavery. Good thing is that atleast now people have started realizing the pain of GC backlog.