You can do this by filing H1B through a consulting company and start working for the startup as a contractor through the consulting company. One catch is that consulting company has to pay a minimum h1B salary for you which shouldn't be a problem if you do get into the accelerator. If you need help for filing H1B, let me know through email. Good luck.
Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
31–40 of 56 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#32How I hacked my US startup visa: http://qz.com/151333/how-i-hacked-my-us-startup-visa/
This is an interesting tale. When I read these, and all the we should have an "entrepreneur visa" stories, I can't help but feel sorry for all the others who aren't as well educated and will never be able to hack our system.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#33Stay in OPT as long as you can. You get more flexibility that way. Try getting the 17 month (I think) extension. If you are on an H1B, you need to get a US person co-founder and have them 'sponsor' you. Be wary about the start up failing because as soon as the sponsor breaks their contract, you will be out of status [1]. This means you may have to leave the country immediately. The E5 visa [2] is the best alternative…
The E-2 visa would be a better option if OP is from a treaty country. Less capital ($50k-$100k should suffice) required and no job creation requirement as with the EB-5.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#34You can't. These visa categories have been specifically engineered to prevent you from working outside of your original job. Trust me, you do NOT want to screw with Immigration. I'd been on J1/H1B/pre-Green-Card-waiting-list for a total of 10 years, so I had a lot of time to think about this. Best shot if you are in an insane hurry: Marry a US citizen and really mean it. So better stop hacking in the evenings and go…
Ridiculous post. OP has options other than marriage.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#35This is what most hackers want:
- residence in the USA;
- working for a small salary to cover expenses,
- but with strong guarantees of equity (ownership or something like it)
US immigration law is designed to stop all of this. Because for most other cases, that would mask shenanigans like a foreign worker undercutting a US competitor, or even a foreign worker being exploited.
Bottom line, you may be able to hack this, but in doing so you will probably give someone else a lot of power over you. Even if you succeed, someone else may have the ability to extract a lot of that wealth you worked for.
I happen to be Canadian, so living in my own country is not such a hardship and I still have access to US investors.
This might be a thread derail, but how many people here would consider residing in Canada as an alternative? The country is much more friendly to immigration, and if you live in Vancouver, you're just a few hours from SFO or Seattle by air. Some Silicon Valley companies are starting up divisions in Vancouver for that reason. But maybe there could be a "Vancouver hacker house" doing the same thing for foreign entrepreneurs and startups.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But that requires you to be among the best in your field. It's a pretty high bar. Surprisingly, the bar is not that high. They have weird rules like people who are "good" in your field need to recommend you, you need to have something published somewhere. The nitty gritties mean that say a random fashion model who has appeared on some magazine somewhere can suddenly become an alien with extraordinary ability.
I've helped put together a few, all successful. You are right that it isn't as hard as it might seem at first blush. You can get through some mid to late career professionals who are fairly successful in their chosen field, even if it might be a stretch to call them extraordinary. But the OP sounds like someone just out of school. The heart of the petition is the need to provide evidence for at least three of the fol…
Thanks for describing this specifically. Quite a few PhDs and some Masters students would definitely qualify for this. There are many folks who get stuck in the H1B labor farms who could be out there making amazing shit if not for this situation.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#37* You can do this on the OPT *. Without OPT F-1 employment rules are strict. But the OPT is basically a green card when it comes to what kind of work you can do (anywhere, you don't have to ask anyone's permission to change employers, you can freelance, you can start a business, you can work for multiple employers). You need to work full-time on OPT. I don't know how they check but you need to be prepared to prove th…
Hi, So I'm on F1 OPT stem extension which is about to end in June 2014. How to tackle things after the stem gets over? H1B sponsored by my company ?
Once the stem is over, you need to switch to the H1B. Also if you were born in Canada, Singapore, Chile, Australia, things are easier.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#38You can't. These visa categories have been specifically engineered to prevent you from working outside of your original job. Trust me, you do NOT want to screw with Immigration. I'd been on J1/H1B/pre-Green-Card-waiting-list for a total of 10 years, so I had a lot of time to think about this. Best shot if you are in an insane hurry: Marry a US citizen and really mean it. So better stop hacking in the evenings and go…
Ridiculous post. OP has options other than marriage.
Depends on where OP was born really and how many degrees he has. The employment based Green card process is terrible if you were born in China or India, or don't have a Masters degree. Otherwise, it is not that complicated. There are enough folks who get a permanent residentship through work in a couple of years. Also, the green card lottery is an option that everyone (who is eligible) should try for.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#39Stay in OPT as long as you can. You get more flexibility that way. Try getting the 17 month (I think) extension. If you are on an H1B, you need to get a US person co-founder and have them 'sponsor' you. Be wary about the start up failing because as soon as the sponsor breaks their contract, you will be out of status [1]. This means you may have to leave the country immediately. The E5 visa [2] is the best alternative…
> Stay in OPT as long as you can. You get more flexibility that way. Try getting the 17 month (I think) extension. You need to start working at a company with no more than total 90 days of unemployment between jobs. Also, the 17 month extension works only if the company is enrolled in everify.
The e-verify process is very easy and if you have incorporated your startup you can go ahead and do the e-verification yourself. Keep in mind that you are employee of your own company, so as long as the company is registered you should not have the 90 day unemployment problem.
Re: Ask HN: How do I legally run a startup in US while on an F1 or H1B visa?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've helped put together a few, all successful. You are right that it isn't as hard as it might seem at first blush. You can get through some mid to late career professionals who are fairly successful in their chosen field, even if it might be a stretch to call them extraordinary. But the OP sounds like someone just out of school. The heart of the petition is the need to provide evidence for at least three of the fol…
I'm currently a sophomore and I might satisfy these - any idea if these would work? 3. I've been covered on CNN, Quartz Magazine, Business Insider, Valleywag 4. This one seems a bit iffy - I control entrance into a pre-accelerator program (would this count?) 8. Founded and currently running Startup Exchange at Georgia Tech. I'm not sure how they determine distinguished reputation, but I run a pre-accelerator program,…
It's impossible to make a complete evaluation based on what you've provided here, but I'd lean towards no.
One problem is that I don't know exactly how you'd define the field. That turns out to be a critical step in putting together a persuasive narrative.
The other thing, at least on the cases I worked on, we never had a case that was just sort of scrapping by. We got a 2-3" binder and filled it with evidence. We tried to hit as many categories as possible, not just the minimum, and in each category provided more than one example.
On the other hand, I only worked on a half dozen, and they were all successful (although we did get an RFE on one), so I can't really say I know exactly where the line is.