Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

I think the question is whether or not you can start a company while in F-1 status. Yes, you can, but you cannot accept payment, e.g., a salary, from it. No, the company that you form could not sponsor you for an H1b. There needs to be an arms length relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary. Since you would be the founder and major stockholder, that relationship would not exist. You may consider getting a investor non-immigrant visa (E) or even permanent residency as an investor. Why bother with H1B?

You can do OPT and be paid, for sure and I don't believe "employment" i.e. W-2 income is required for that, but longer term the H-1 doesn't look good. In the old days, yes it was possible to sponsor with a self-owned company, but not these days very often. In fact, there have been some pretty clear pronouncements that a self-owned company is same as an individual, though there are good arguments against this. You could try, but unless you have a bunch of people also employed there, I'm afraid the H-1 wouldn't work with just you involved even if corporations law would treat an individual separately from an entity, ie, a corporation. Some cases can be couched in better terms than others, so it's worth looking at, but not risking a life on.

The above is general information, not legal advice, and it doesn't form an attorney client relationship. For further information, you may contact [email protected] or 818 609 1953.

Sincerely,

Alice Yardum-Hunter, Attorney, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law

State Bar of CA, Bd of Legal Specialization