Ask HN: The curse of the green card: entrepreneurship for immigrants?

Background: I am from India. I have a PhD in engineering (Berkeley) and a steady full time job at a tech company in the valley. I work on an H1B visa and my green card application has been filed (EB2, pending AOS, received EAD).

Problem: I’ve been hacking at a startup concept for a few months now. We (my "co-founders" are also immigrants) are now at a point where we have a well functioning product and eager customers. The only thing that is preventing us from going live is incorporation (which gives us the ability to accept payments, liability protection, IP, etc). Being temporary immigrant workers on an H1B we can incorporate and "own" a company ... but CANNOT WORK for it.

o How do immigrants handle such a quandary?

o Yes, I can own a large % of equity, but I can’t write a single line of code... because that would technically be "working" for the company and could increase the value of my equity

o Some say "find someone (e.g. US citizen) to run the company for you". How does one entrust the running of a whole company to someone else while being a passive shareholder? Remember, if I send a single email to one of our customers, I’d be "working" and violating my H1B

o With the expected green card wait time of 3-5 years for an Indian citizen, I am getting frustrated by the day. Does anyone else here share my frustration? How do you deal with it?

Private comments to s t e v e s m i t h 1 5 5 @ g m a i l . c o m

I know nothing regarding US immigration law, but what do they define as "working"? In other words, could you contribute for "free" and just pay yourself via dividends?

Otherwise, why don't you just incorporate in India, or wherever else is applicable? If you're going to sell via web payments, nobody really cares where you are. There may be a few issues with corporate clients, but for 95% of people it would be seamless.

Incorporate in a country like Hong Kong which has no corporate taxes for income from outside of the country.

Hi Steve Smith,

There is a little known visa known as an O1, for 'extraordinary persons'. This is the visa that many foreign founders obtain. One is allowed to found and work for a company in the US while one is on it. I think they last 3 years.

Generally, PhD level people can obtain it, though it is a pain to do so. I have heard of people straining to get 10 eminent people to write supporting letters for one's visa petition. A good link is here:

http://www.hooyou.com/o-1/faq.html

There's a fairly extensive list of what may be accepted as supporting documentation there. I think these are the criteria the government uses:

Receipt of a major, internationally recognized award, such as the Nobel Prize; or at least three of the following forms of documentation: (1) Documentation of the alien's receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; (2) Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields; (3) Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the alien, relating to the alien's work in the field for which classification is sought, which shall include the title, date, and author of such published material, and any necessary translation; (4) Evidence of the alien's participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or in an allied field of specialization to that for which classification is sought; (5) Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; (6) Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional journals, or other major media; (7) Evidence that the alien has been employed in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation; (8) Evidence that the alien has either commanded a high salary or will command a high salary or other remuneration for services, evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence.

no, if you have an H1-B, you are in the country to work. if you leave your employer, you have N days to get out. you can't just decide to go solo.