Ask HN: Build a startup in the US while on H-1B Visa?

[neipme]

Hello Hacker News community,

I have been working on a couple of personal side projects for the last year, and I believe they have reached a stage where they can be useful to their target market and generate revenue. (I could be wrong, of course.) However, I am currently on an H-1B visa in the US, and I am unsure if it is possible to build a startup while on this visa.

I understand that it's not a straightforward process, so I am looking for advice on whether it's possible to register a company anywhere else in the world and run it. The company would be a one-person company with minimal time investment (less than a couple of hours a week) and is designed to be a self-service application.

I would greatly appreciate any insight or experiences shared by the community on this matter. Thank you in advance for your time and help.

[samfisher83]

https://www.lawfirm4immigrants.com/h-1b-holder-start-a-busin...

>So, if you decide to work actively for your own company – managing day-to-day activities, acting in elevated positions such as CEO including managerial or executive positions, and hiring-firing people in your business, it might lead to revocation of your H-1B status.

[injb]

This is a bizzare article. The list of activities given here is not an exhaustive list of "working actively". Conspicuously missing from the list is "working". At all.

Next we have this little gem:

"First, decide whether you really want to start your business or not.

If yes, act as a passive investor or passive shareholder in your company. Here is the list of actions you can do to start a business while on your H-1B status:"

You can't start a business passively. Starting a business is an action. Investing in a business is a completely different thing.

The article then gives a list of specific things you can do. None of them involve starting a business.

All I an conclude from this is that you clearly can't start a side business while on a H1B and the author really, really doesn't want to tell you this for some reason.

[marymkearney]

@injb thanks for pointing this out. The article is indeed misleading. Its recommendations are legally inaccurate.

[neipme]

Thanks! Guess it's time to move back :)

[marymkearney]

Or sideways. It's often possible to jiujitsu the system, into serving the actual greater good.

[tlb]

You can own and run a US business while on an H-1B. The H-1B is good as long as you're still employed by the sponsoring employer, and you can do pretty much whatever else you want while in the US on it.

Beware that your current employment probably has an "assignment of inventions" agreement, which may give them rights over software you create outside work. You can often negotiate an exception for a particular project.

If the startup starts growing and you want quit your existing job and to go full-time, it's more difficult but there may be options depending on your circumstances. You'll need a good immigration lawyer then.

[injb]

Are you sure about that? Can you cite some documentation/info from an immigration attorney? Most people out there seem to be under the impression that you can't do this. It's certainly the general rule that people on nonimmigrant visas can only work for the sponsoring employer.

[satya71]

If you’re willing to have a bigger vision, you could look into a VC like Unshackled. They have a process for you to work on a startup on H-1B while you get your O-1 or other visa figured out.

[neipme]

Thank you! Will check them out.

[marymkearney]

I second this recommendation. They've helped lots of folks.

[marymkearney]

Hi there, immigration lawyer here. As you know, H-1B status rigidly restricts the "work" that can be performed in the United States, to tasks for the H-1B sponsoring employer, within the job duties set out in the H-1B.

Freelance "work" while in H-1B status is prohibited. This covers side gigs like driving an Uber, blogging for pay (including ad revenue and donations), playing music for tips, and yes, working on your own for-profit company, even in pre-revenue stage where you're not actually getting paid yet.

Your hack - to base the company abroad - gets points for creativity! It would still violate H-1B status, however, if the "work" you're doing for the foreign entity physically takes place in the US.

Here's a pretty accurate summary of the situation. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-i-work-remotely-...

I'm putting "work" in airquotes, because performing non-H-1B labor of any kind while in the US is the core of the H-1B violation. So, for example, owning a company in the US is permissible in H-1B status, as long as you don't work there in any capacity.

I realize this is perverse and insane. H-1B requirements are frozen in time in the pre-internet workplace of the early 90's. But here we are.

Personally I'd advise against testing the limits of the H-1B, mostly from hearing horror stories about H-1B renewals getting denied, over dumb things like occasional babysitting, or fixing your neighbors' computers for pay, or "working" at a volunteer organization.

That said, I think there's scope for plenty of activities to advance your startup, that aren't "work" in the H-1B sense. Reframe it for now as an interest, hobby, or skill, and build an online reputation as an expert in that thing. Give advice, ask for opinions, identify pain points, get known, build an audience.

Also, building and testing a prototype of your thing, in the privacy of your own home, still counts as a hobby. Sounds like you've already done this though, so maybe you're at the limit of this one already.

Hope this helps. I feel your pain. I wrote an article about this if you're interested. From 2016, still accurate. My first post on HN as I recall.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11491428

https://visabuilder.com/blog/escape-from-h1b-hell-5-things-i...

Edited to add, the article cited below from "Law Firm 4 Immigrants" is a misleading blend of accurate and inaccurate information, which is pretty dangerous IMO.

[neipme]

Thank you! This helps. Yes, at this point, it's just a hobby project. I was exploring what are my options, which unfortunately seems like not much. I agree, the H-1B rules are so frozen in time. If anytime, the US would benefit a lot more and generate more per capita income if they allowed individuals to express their enterprise irrespective of their visa status.

[marymkearney]

You're most welcome. Agreed, the system makes no sense. But it does reward those who accept that fact, and use a kind of legal jiujitsu, to advance the common good along with their own.

Great example and role model for this approach is swizec.com, who leveraged his online reputation into an O-1 work visa, then an EB-1A green card. He's an HN contributor also. HTH. I'm rooting for you and your projects. :)

[wqtz]

If an H1b worker has a company based on their origin country, can't they legally work behind that company?

If their origin company is participating in the contract with an entity of the host country and the finances and transactions are all based on the origin country does that violate any work visa rules?

Technically, the worker is not participating in a income activity and the income he is generating is based and limited to his origin country. If they don't bring any money from their origin company to the host country, wouldn't that be legal?

But then again, ICE tends kick people off at a drop of a hat. So, really need to know if this process is absolutely legal. Thank you.

[injb]

US visas are not about where the company you're working for is based. They're all about where you are located. If you're in the US, then you can't do unauthorized work for any company, no matter where that company is located.