4 ms·

I have the same question as well.

proberts 9y ago
That's right, in the H-1B context, there needs to be an employer-employee relationship between the petitioning company and the sponsored worker and this (in the eyes of USCIS) ultimately means the ability of the petitioning company to fire the sponsored worker and otherwise control his or her employment.
- user-on1 9y ago
  So basically for a person on H1B to startup, can we take below as steps ? Please correct me if i am wrong ! 1. A decide's to startup. 2. A find's 2 US citizens B & C as co-founders. 3. A gives idea to B & C and asks them to build a PRODUCT. 4. A takes 49% ownership, B & C takes 25.5 % ownership. 5. B & C finished building a MVP or SLC PRODUCT. 6. B & C apply for VC Fund. 7. B & C get X fund from Z. 8. B & C incorporate a COMPANY. 9. COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder. 10. A joins COMPANY. 11. A & B & C continue building their PRODUCT. 12. PRODUCT becomes successful. 13. A applies for STARTUP based Visa. 14. A becomes US Citizen 15. A starts COMPANY B. Kindly tweak or update to fix any mistake in this process. I think it will be of great help to many and benefit everyone.
  - rajeshp1986 9y ago
    The problem here is if you are A, then no one will give 49% stake to you because of your idea. This only works on paper but in reality you will get screwed.
  - vira28 9y ago
    Oh wow !! So for giving the idea A takes 49% ownership?!
  - sumedh 9y ago
    > COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder. You cannot be hired as a cofounder you need to be hired as an employee.
    - aub3bhat 9y ago
      "cofounder" is a legally meaningless SV term. There are three ways you can be associated with a company 1. Shareholder (anyone in the world, except few countries with sanctions) 2. On board of directors (varies from case to case) 3. Employee (requires immigration status)
      - user-on1 9y ago
        Can one be hired as a CEO or CTO? Does that count as an employee? If one is a software developer at present in current petition can such person transfer his H1B to a role of CTO? Are there any challenges in this?
        aub3bhat 9y ago
        A CEO, CTO, CFO, CXO etc. are all "employees", technically an employee is someone who works for the company (unpaid work also counts) the company. E.g. You can have 100% equity, be sole shareholder, pay money to a manager/employee to conduct work/business. You can even derive a dividend from the said business. however you cannot "engage in business" which means that you cannot write code whose IP gets assigned to the company. You also cannot have day-to-day management responsibilities. If I remember correctly planning a business and/or attending meetings of board of directors is allowed. At end of the day shareholding pattern trumps everything else.
        user-on1 9y ago
        100% equity would mean A would have 100% control right? Then nobody can fire A. Hence 49%. Can A have 100% ownership and incorporate a COMPANY and then assign BOD to COMPANY Where BOD have control over A but no ownership in company? In this config can A just hire a employee D and pay him minimum wage according to DOL. https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm Would this setup work?

That's right, in the H-1B context, there needs to be an employer-employee relationship between the petitioning company and the sponsored worker and this (in the eyes of USCIS) ultimately means the ability of the petitioning company to fire the sponsored worker and otherwise control his or her employment.

user-on1 9y ago
So basically for a person on H1B to startup, can we take below as steps ? Please correct me if i am wrong ! 1. A decide's to startup. 2. A find's 2 US citizens B & C as co-founders. 3. A gives idea to B & C and asks them to build a PRODUCT. 4. A takes 49% ownership, B & C takes 25.5 % ownership. 5. B & C finished building a MVP or SLC PRODUCT. 6. B & C apply for VC Fund. 7. B & C get X fund from Z. 8. B & C incorporate a COMPANY. 9. COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder. 10. A joins COMPANY. 11. A & B & C continue building their PRODUCT. 12. PRODUCT becomes successful. 13. A applies for STARTUP based Visa. 14. A becomes US Citizen 15. A starts COMPANY B. Kindly tweak or update to fix any mistake in this process. I think it will be of great help to many and benefit everyone.
- rajeshp1986 9y ago
  The problem here is if you are A, then no one will give 49% stake to you because of your idea. This only works on paper but in reality you will get screwed.
- vira28 9y ago
  Oh wow !! So for giving the idea A takes 49% ownership?!
- sumedh 9y ago
  > COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder. You cannot be hired as a cofounder you need to be hired as an employee.
  - aub3bhat 9y ago
    "cofounder" is a legally meaningless SV term. There are three ways you can be associated with a company 1. Shareholder (anyone in the world, except few countries with sanctions) 2. On board of directors (varies from case to case) 3. Employee (requires immigration status)
    - user-on1 9y ago
      Can one be hired as a CEO or CTO? Does that count as an employee? If one is a software developer at present in current petition can such person transfer his H1B to a role of CTO? Are there any challenges in this?
      - aub3bhat 9y ago
        A CEO, CTO, CFO, CXO etc. are all "employees", technically an employee is someone who works for the company (unpaid work also counts) the company. E.g. You can have 100% equity, be sole shareholder, pay money to a manager/employee to conduct work/business. You can even derive a dividend from the said business. however you cannot "engage in business" which means that you cannot write code whose IP gets assigned to the company. You also cannot have day-to-day management responsibilities. If I remember correctly planning a business and/or attending meetings of board of directors is allowed. At end of the day shareholding pattern trumps everything else.
        user-on1 9y ago
        100% equity would mean A would have 100% control right? Then nobody can fire A. Hence 49%. Can A have 100% ownership and incorporate a COMPANY and then assign BOD to COMPANY Where BOD have control over A but no ownership in company? In this config can A just hire a employee D and pay him minimum wage according to DOL. https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm Would this setup work?