Legal Question in Immigration Law in South Carolina

h4 starts a home-based company

A friend intruduced me to join a product brokerage company who sells products directly to customer over internet. I will be a distributor. My income will come from my own sales and get paid by company. No sale, no pay. At the end of year I will summit TAX 1099 FORM TO INS. As a h4 visa holder, without working permit and no ability to earn income from any US source, am I legal to do so? How about buying or selling stock? Is it ok to get income from stock market as h4 holder? BestRegards, Mei


Asked on 10/27/03, 1:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Giuseppe (Joe) Scagliarini Law Offices of Giuseppe Scagliarini

Re: h4 starts a home-based company

This is one of the most asked questions.

H-4s are not aurhorized to work. This means that you cannot perform any work for which a U.S. worker would expect to get paid.

However, nothing prevents you from investing i.e. buying stocks and bonds, or starting your own company without performing the day-to-day activity necessary to sustain the business.

You are walking a fine line here and to be honest it sounds as if your activity could in fact be considered unlawful (self) employment.

I WOULD NEED TO KNOW MORE TO PROPERLY ADVISE YOU.

PLEASE DO NOT ACT ON THIS ADVICE ALONE AS I HAVE NOT BEEN RETAINED AND DO NOT KNOW THE DETAILS OF YOUR CASE. PLEASE HIRE COMPETENT IMMIGRATION COUNSEL BEFORE TAKING ACTIONS THAT MAY JEOPARDIZE YOUR NONIMMIGRANT STATUS.

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Answered on 10/27/03, 5:03 pm


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