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Creating a Business in the US on an H1-B Visa?

Posted by Cliff on from the building-the-american-dream dept.

GnaGnaGna asks: "I've lived in the US for almost a year now and have a full time position with a major American company under an H1-B visa (work visa for foreigners). Besides this job, I also run an increasingly popular website generating AdSense revenues. I am not sure if I am allowed to create a US company (most likely an LLC), under my legal status, and transfer the Adsense profits to my personal bank account or a business bank account. Have my fellow readers faced a similar legal situation or know anything about it?"

4 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. As I'm sure eveyone else will say by tx_kanuck · · Score: 4, Informative

    Get a lawyer. There is nothing here that can really help you other then moral support.

    --
    Now, if that makes sense to anyone, could you please explain it to me? I think I've confused myself.
  2. Simple answer. by jpetts · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, you are not allowed to run a business while you are on an H-1B visa. You can be a passive investor in a business ONLY. If you do anything that is regarded as work that would normally be paid, even if you are not remunerated, you break the conditions of your H-1B, and are deportable under 237(a)(1)(C) of the INA. You may not receive anything other than normal shareholder dividends from the company, and you will need to declare them on your IRS return. Any attempt at covert payment through dividends is likely to attract unwelcome attention from the IRS, and possiby the USCIS.

    Lots of people do what you are describing, but it is definitely 100% ILLEGAL, and you will most likely be deported and banned if you are caught.

    --
    Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
    1. Re:Simple answer. by jpetts · · Score: 3, Informative

      Forgot to add this: you CAN work for your company if, and only if the company files an approved H-1B for you as an employee of that company as well. You can have multiple H-1Bs: no problem there. However, there are lots of hoops to jump through, and it is not easy. Not sure exactly what it takes, but if you are bringing in significant amounts of cash, why not hire an immigration attorney? See the AILA web site for more detaisl.

      --
      Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
    2. Re:Simple answer. by kakapo · · Score: 3, Informative

      I had two H1-Bs for several years, one for my day job and one for some consulting I was doing on the side. It was not that hard - the first H1-B was for a job at a large university, and these are routinely approved. The second was for work with a small start-up spun off by another university, and that was tougher, since it was a small firm and they had not filed an H1-B petition before and they retained a very good immigration lawyer (who I then hired to do my green card application a year or so later).

      The issue here is that a company with one part-time employee (ie the one you are thinking of registering) may have a hard job getting an H1-B application approved.

      I would talk to a lawyer, but you *might* be safe if you register the company in your own country, and not to the US -- Google will pay out to other countries??