Frequently asked questions answered in The Economic Times NRI Helpdesk by Rajiv - Can I start my own business if I'm an H-1B visa holder?

FAQ's answered in The Economic Times NRI Helpdesk: Can I start my own business if I'm an H-1B visa holder?

Published by: The Economic Times: March 05, 2022

Question: I am working on H-1B as a software engineer and got my EAD as a derivative applicant. I registered for an LLC and would like to know if I can work for my own company. Can I hire people while still maintaining my H-1B with my current employer?
Since I registered the company What is my status now? H-1 or EAD. My friend is a GC. Can I be a partner to start a new company and hire people?

Answer: When you are a derivative applicant for a green card, you are permitted to start your own business. I see no problem with that. You can also hire other people for your company. But there appears to be a basic confusion in your question. Once you start using your employment authorization, you are no longer on H-1B status.

You can also be a partner in another company if you so wish, but your H--1B status would then become inactive and you would be using your employment authorization. That, of course, it's perfectly legal. Note that merely registering a company without doing any business or business activity does not violate your H-1B status in my opinion.

Read more by clicking the link below or the pdf attachment.
https://bit.ly/37dTlid
 

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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.

Submitted by Shamni (not verified) on Sat, 03/12/2022 - 15:42 Permalink

Hi I'm currently not in US but I have a valid H4 EAD till Aug 2022. Because I have issues with my h1b spouse I'm not able to reenter US 1. Can I reenter US without my spouse H1b approval notice. 2. My company is ready to change my status from h4 to h1b. But can I do it when I'm not in USA.

Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.

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