Owning a Business on H-1B

Question

Hey all,Is there anyone here who lives and works in the US under the H-1B Visa? I have a question for you.I want to start earning side income, but this is not allowed. However, you are allowed to own a business, you can operate it, but not work for it.Has anyone here registered or bought a business (LLC) under H-1B visa? Any workarounds, or ideas?

pkrotich · Accepted Answer

I was in your situation circa 2002/3. Here the journey I took; Since I couldn’t earn money while on H-1B, I focused on an open source project that I ended up monetizing after I got my green card. It was the best option that turned out to be perfect way to bootstrap a company / project.
It was longterm play but it worked for me. Perhaps there are better options now - I would say you need to talk to immigration attorney to be sure. Also worry about making sure your current employment contract (non competent etc) is not an issue down the road.
PS: Forgot to mention that EB-5 (investments visa) is a quicker option if you have $500k-$1M to invest.

manojkumarsmks · Answer

Majority of them I know usually own a Indian Grocery store as a business. In terms of LLC, I know a person who started a company and also filed 2nd H-1B under that company he started (He also had a full time job), both H-1Bs were approved, but the CEO of the company was his co-founder and he took a position under the CEO.

manojkumarsmks · Answer

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/business-l...I came across this, there are two paragraphs explains what you are looking for. Hope that helps.

brudgers · Answer

Talk to an immigration attorney.If your business idea would not produce enough income to cover this basic business expense, the business idea is not viable.Good luck.

Owning a Business on H-1B

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/business-l...
I came across this, there are two paragraphs explains what you are looking for. Hope that helps.

Talk to an immigration attorney.
If your business idea would not produce enough income to cover this basic business expense, the business idea is not viable.
Good luck.