Great news that just made my day! But I dont really understand the details of this: Are they asking people to found start a business and give the total control (in term of decision making) of it to someone else ?
The whole point of starting a business (to me at least) is to have the ability to build your idea, make it grow and share your vision to the world.
Am i missing something ??
Anyway, this is still a very important step for us, foreigners.
Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
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Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#12Wait, are they saying I can create a company on my own, no holds attached and go work for it? (minimum investment etc.) A few questions - does it let me build apps and publish them to the Appstore to make money? (Since that doesn't count as working fulltime for the company I assume). How do they prevent Masters students who are on an OPT from creating their own companies and sponsoring a H1B for themselves? No regula…
As an H1B you still have to be paid market rate, and the company has to have enough cash to be viable. That implies a certain level of minimum investment.
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#13Wait, are they saying I can create a company on my own, no holds attached and go work for it? (minimum investment etc.) A few questions - does it let me build apps and publish them to the Appstore to make money? (Since that doesn't count as working fulltime for the company I assume). How do they prevent Masters students who are on an OPT from creating their own companies and sponsoring a H1B for themselves? No regula…
No, they are not saying that: "... business owners on H1-B visas could work for their own companies, provided that they work full time for the company and are treated like an employee . For example, the company could have a board that is able to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the worker like they would any other staff member." I don't know how many startups have a board that can fire the founders...
Well, that's still okay. I guess this is one thing that they can't change without government regulation. So like @SoftwareMaven says, what if I can get friends or family on my board? Do I have to be paid whatever the min wage for H1Bs is? (I think it's 45k / year or something).
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#14is that really the problem? Surely the difficulty of getting a h1-b visa in the first place is more of a problem?
It's not as hard to get an H1B as it has been, because the yearly quota isn't being used up. You still have to be paid market rate, go throuh the labor certification, pay legal and INS fees, etc.
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, they are not saying that: "... business owners on H1-B visas could work for their own companies, provided that they work full time for the company and are treated like an employee . For example, the company could have a board that is able to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the worker like they would any other staff member." I don't know how many startups have a board that can fire the founders...
I wonder if there are rules around the board. Could I make the board with my family? Sure, I could be fired, but it isn't likely. Sad that Washington is so useless that even something as straightforward as "let really smart, educated, financed people in the country to start businesses that hire other people" is controversial.
You probably don't have a family in the US if you come on H1B, but nonetheless, someone trustworthy can serve the board...
Say, YC or other incubator can form a board that will formally control the founders but in reality it's in the incubator's best interest to let the founders do their thing
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#16Wait, are they saying I can create a company on my own, no holds attached and go work for it? (minimum investment etc.) A few questions - does it let me build apps and publish them to the Appstore to make money? (Since that doesn't count as working fulltime for the company I assume). How do they prevent Masters students who are on an OPT from creating their own companies and sponsoring a H1B for themselves? No regula…
No, they are not saying that: "... business owners on H1-B visas could work for their own companies, provided that they work full time for the company and are treated like an employee . For example, the company could have a board that is able to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the worker like they would any other staff member." I don't know how many startups have a board that can fire the founders...
My understanding is, there are companies that will handle all the corporate paperwork for you, including supplying board members. DYODD however, IANAL, etc.
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#17is that really the problem? Surely the difficulty of getting a h1-b visa in the first place is more of a problem?
For a lot of people already in the US, yes!
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#18H1B requires that the employee satisfies a minimum wage set by the Labor department (varies per state). So if someone on H1B wants to start their own startup with Americans (or existing green card holders?) on their board, will they have to be paid more than that minimum wage right from the beginning? That would need a higher investment to start with. What if the company wants to bootstrap rather than raise money from VC's? Also, would that mean that the person on H1B cannot own a majority stake in his/her own company (given the condition that the board should be able to fire him/her)?
I think the changes outlined are open to wide angles of interpretation both by USCIS and the startups that want to 'hire' the founder(s) on H1B.
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#19is that really the problem? Surely the difficulty of getting a h1-b visa in the first place is more of a problem?
The number of people applying for the H1B for the last two years is LESS than the number of H1-B vacancies available.
People just dont want to come to the US anymore at least not skilled workers from India and China like they used to.
Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company
#20This is massive news. I met Vinod in SF when I was leaving the bay area, partly for visa reasons. Now it seems I can return with a company of my own, if it's set up the right way.
However, having spent 6 months fighting USCIS, I'm a little sceptical about it translating well into practice.