Venture on H1B

[A12]

Hello,

Looks like a generic question, but I have more specific questions regarding the subject. It would be great to get some reference in the immigration law along with answers.

Prerequisites:
I have H-1B.

Questions:
1. Am I allowed to be a founder or a cofounder of a venture in US?
2. Am I allowed to contribute to or work for this company for free? In other words, to be a volunteer.
3. Is there an official limit how much money I can contribute.
4. Am I allowed to get stock options of the newly established company? ISO, Nonqualified?
5. Tricky one. Provided that I establish a venture in my home or another country, can I work as an employee of that company being in USA and have a "contract" with the established venture in US? Any tax implications? Where can I get more information?
6. Is there any restrictions for filing patents being on H1B?

That's all so far.

Thanks in advance!

 

[A12]

Found some answers.

Found some answers and am posting for others if it is interesing.

Originally posted by A12
1. Am I allowed to be a founder or a cofounder of a venture in US?

Yes.

2. Am I allowed to contribute to or work for this company for free? In other words, to be a volunteer.

Yes, but if you want to get a salary, you need to get a concurrent H1B.

4. Am I allowed to get stock options of the newly established company? ISO, Nonqualified?

Allowed, if this is not an S corporation.

Still looking for answers for the rest ones and trying to get references.

 

[A12]

Re: Re: Venture on H1B

First, thank you for your time to reply.

Originally posted by JoeF
No. Any work, even if it is for free, is only allowed with the appropriate work authorization. You could only volunteer if everybody else also volunteers. An example is volunteering for a church.
The main consideration is: would the work "normally" be done by a paid person? If so, then it is considered work and you would need work authorization. For a commercial entity, this is always the case.

Is there any tips where can I find out more about this?

This answer raised other questions:
1. Assume everyone, lets say 4 people, work for free, in other words, the venture is self funded and nobody gets salary as they work voluntary. Also, the venture is not producing any money yet. Would it still require work authorization?

2. Provided that I have got a work authorization, can I apply for EBGC? Is there any requirements for the company? Does it matter if I'm cofounder or founder of the venture?

 

[A12]

Re: Re: Re: Venture on H1B

Originally posted by JoeF
The only exception would be the employment creation category, if you invest $1M and hire 10 Americans.

Does it make any difference whether they are American citizens or green card holders?
Does that mean that I have to hire 10 Americans after I made a 1M investment or, if I founded a company, it is sufficient to have 10 American employees even though there some of them could be cofounders?
Does it imply the investments should be made in cash? Could it be a property, real estate? Could it be, lets say, 20% stock options of a $5M venture?

Yes, I know, that a good immigration laywer could help on this matter, but I was looking some references to the laws.

I'm just exploring possibilities and before making any movements such as establishing a venture. Also, this topic helps me a lot to clarify the subject and get right questions for the immigration lawyer.

Thank you again!