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Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#21

Post by goatforce5 »

Note for Australians: These tweaks to the rules almost certainly apply to E3 visas, which would allow you to go to the States with your opposite-sex married partner, and they'd then be allowed to work in any job without further approval from the federal government.

(Through an odd quirk of a US immigration directive, it also allows you to take your non-US same sex partner to the States, but they aren't allowed to work in any capacity. It must be about the only place where US immigration recognizes same-sex relationships.)

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#22

Post by jisaacstone »

Here is what I hate - a top-rated comment with 22 'recommends' and no dissenting replies:

"boblesch wrote: the immagration fix is so simple

institute a $1 million fine for every occurrence of employing an illegal. no excuses, no exemptions, no exceptions, no pardons.

the illegal immigration problem will DISAPPEAR the day the first fine is assessed."

This has nothing to do with the issues in the articles and detracts from meaningful change. The primary and pressing immigration issues in the USA have nothing to do with 'illegals' but any attempt to talk about it is quickly derailed into a pro- or anti-illegal debate.

I get so angry sometimes . . .

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#23

Post by prostoalex »

tejaswiy wrote: post #13
lutorm wrote: post #4

Earlier 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...

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).

You have to be paid prevailing wage for that particular geography, not minimum.

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#24

Post by gaius »

lutorm wrote: post #4
tejaswiy wrote: post #3

Wait, 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...

Isn't that what happened to the other PG, Phillip Greenspun?

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#25

Post by gaius »

keeptrying wrote: post #19
ed209 wrote: post #10

is 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.

An alternate interpretation is that the H1B quota is simply artifically high. http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/h1b.html

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#26

Post by bahman2000 »

endac wrote: post #8

So if I, an Irish citizen, founded a company with Americans employed or on the board I can apply to stay beyond my holiday visa? Will be pitching like mad at YC NYC if this is the case!:)

I don't think your holiday visa is H1-B. This deal is for existing H1-B visa holders.

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#28

Post by jhuckestein »

Great news. I think for the H1B category, the biggest improvement is that you can now point at a document and say "According to this document, my application is legal".

The bigger news really is the EB2 for entrepreneurs, but it remains to be seen how many companies qualify to be in the nation's best interest ...

Re: Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

#30

Post by [deleted] »

peteretep wrote: post #5
tejaswiy wrote: post #3

Wait, 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…

That was my hope too, but it seems to say you need to already be working under an H1B visa.

[deleted]
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