Starting Consultancy Firm on H1

[striker]

Hi,

Am new to this forum, and I figured that this forum has helped many. My situation is as follows.

1. I want to start a consultancy firm, which would place consultants at the clients. I have fair number of clients already. but I don't have a company of my own. My status is H1. My Questions are

--> Is it a must to have a PR Citizen to own the company? is there any alternative to this?
-->What are the steps involved in it? My company would generate fair amount of revenue looking at the client base I got. I have been directing all my clients to otehr consultancy firms I know, but now I want to set up one of my own.

Where can I find more info on this subject?
I need your guidance ASAP. Please help!!

Thanks,
Striker

[vspsrikanth]

Hi,
Can anybody please answer the following questions. I really appreciate your help and time in advance.

1) I know that we can start a company on H1b but I have to hire some body to work for the company. In this case how can I pay her/him salary as I cannot sign the paychecks.
2) If i give complete rights to her/him for writing the checks to the employees and herself, there is lot of scope for misusing the funds of the company. How can I control the flow of money , if I can't involve in any kind of activities of the company.
3) Can I keep any restrictions(in issuing checks) on the person I hired?
4) Can I hire a staffing company to run the payrolls of my employees? And how can I intiate this as I cannot sign any paper on behalf of the company.

-Thanks
Srikanth

[vspsrikanth]

Thanks a lot ****. I really appreciate your time to answer the questions. Can you please answer the following questions also?

Can I register my company name online? Can I open a bank account for the company? Can I issue an offer letter for the CEO? Can I sign in the offer letter for the CEO?

Thanks in advance.

-Srikanth

[sam_vyas]

Working Volunterily -- unpaid on h1 ( for few hours ) is possible.

Here are some links.

http://www.murthy.com/startup.html
"In other words, a person on an H1B or other temporary work visa in the United States is legally allowed to invest in any venture or company and could possibly undertake some limited volunteer work on behalf of the venture or company. However, the individual cannot work indefinitely for that company and earn a salary without obtaining prior approval from the INS or DOL to work for the particular venture or company."

http://www.h1base.com/page.asp?id=223
Can a foreign national invest money in any venture?
"A person on an H1B or other temporary work visa in the United States can legally invest in any venture or company. You can start to undertake volunteer work on behalf of the venture or company at any time. However, you are not allowed to work on a full-time basis for that company and earn a salary until obtaining prior approval from the INS or DOL to work for that venture or company. In order for the person on an H1B to work for another company or employer, the person is required to obtain a concurrent H1B approval to work for the new entity, in addition to the present employer."

Hope this helps.

Thx,
Sam

[tonysharma]

I'd really appreciate if someone can answer my question. Thanks in advance.
I'm waiting for my 140 and 485 approvals and have got my EAD but am still on H1 status (haven't used EAD). My spouse has gotten the EAD. I am thinking of buying a franchise (they will only sell it to me due to some reason) but they are ok with my spouse being a business partner. Is it possible that my spouse work on this business/franchise fulltime while my name is on it. Are there any issues etc? Would really appreciate any response.

Thanks much!

[tonysharma]

Thanks for replying! So who gets the profits etc? I mean on H1 I cannot derive pay/profits right?

[tonysharma]

Originally Posted by ****

As shareholder you can of course get profits. On H1, you just would be a passive investor, and just like an investor on the stock market who gets dividends, you can get profits. Of course, you have to report them on your tax return.

But the question of course is, why so complicated? Use an EAD, and there is no question at all about the legality.

What do you mean? Could you explain how I can do that while keeping my current job? Appreciate the time.

[tonysharma]

Originally Posted by ****

For your current job, you need work authorization. The H1 provides that, but the EAD as well. And with the EAD you can also work somewhere else, e.g., in your own company.

WOW! So does that mean that I can start working with my own company as well right away or do I need to notify INS and/or fill up some form for that or do i need to inform my employer?

Thanks a ton!!!
PS: apologies if I'm being a dud and if this is a stupid question, but just got the EAD and don't know much about it :-(

[queryH1B]

Hi!

Is it illegal to get profit from own company while on H1.

As Joe said investor can get the profit.
But if investor is on H1 and does not have an EAD, is it legal to take the share of profit. If yes, what is that share?

Regards
Lax

[anu73_in]

Hi,

Can a H1 visa holder be a partner in a firm (passive partner). Will not work for the partnership firm at all. The other partner who is a GC holder will do all the work. So at the year end the profits will be shared.

I think this will be legal? Pls advice.

Thanks
Anu

[queryH1B]

Hi!

If a company is registered on H1, is it mandatory that the CEO be a PR/Citizen? Can CEO be hired on H1B?

Regards
Lax