Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Hello. As a technical matter, if the corporation is indeed a C-Corp, as opposed to an S-Corp, then the threshold answer is yes. (S-corps have nationality restrictions on ownership). As in yes your wife may be the majority stake holder. However, there are other critical questions that should be asked as well, including what is the nature of her status in the States (e.g., H4)?

As a business counselor I have dealt with situations where a foreign national seeks ownership status in a US company, but their visa may not support that kind of activity. One of the critical concerns, if there is a visa issue such as this, is the nature of her ownership (i.e., is it "passive" in nature, meaning she exercises little to no managerial control, or "active" in nature, meaning she has meaningful managerial involvement in the company). If there is a visa conflict, having "passive" status will generally put her in a better position than "active" status.

If you would like to consult further with my firm we have an immigration expert and we can also setup the paperwork and structure to transfer the shares over (or determine if there is a better course). And I hope you found this useful.