Home: Message List - H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his

nj_ItInfra — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:54:38 GMT

Hello P.K,

I have an IT company registered in newjersey and currently I do have offhsore. I am open for any parternership options and I am flexisble. you can reach me at srikrishna29 at gmail dot com.
Regards
Krishna

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his

pgk500 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:06:52 GMT

Hi Nishant,
Thanks for your encouraging reply.I am interested in starting a consulting firm and after reading a lot on this topic i have realized that you need someone with atleast GC to run your company as you can only be a passive investor and not an active investor because of h-1 restrictions.Do I have to run the payroll for the person I hire with a fixed salary and can I open a bank account and get funds deposited by client directly in my account. If I have to pay my employee can I pay by personal check cause i know as an passive investor I cannot even sign checks. Your response would be very much appreciated.

thanks,
P.K.

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

laborvisalaw — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:58:03 GMT

There are some options, but I am not sure if they would apply to you.

The E1/E2 treaty investor visa is unavailable to you since India is not a treaty country.
The L1 visa may be an option but the requirements are that you are employed by the foreign entity for at least one year before you are able to work in the US for the US subsidiary. Assuming the Indian parent company has not been started yet, this may be too long of a waiting period.
Finally, you may consider EB-5 investor visa but the investment requirement is $1 million (with some exceptions) which investment must create employment for at least 10 US persons authorized to work. If you have this kind of money to invest, this is an option.

As always, this is just a rough guide, consult an attorney for more nuanced analysis. I will be happy to provide you with a free consultation over the phone, please email me at info@cilawgroup.com if you would like to schedule.

More sites which you may find helpful in your research:

Best regards-

laborvisalaw

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

alchemist — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:18:37 GMT

Well, I tried to talk to an attorney and it seems that I am allowed to partner in a company as long as I don't work for it. My brother can hire someone here and we can pay him/her as a part time employee and get our work done. By the way, is it possible that my brother just opens a company up here in US showing it as a subsidiary of the Indian company. What if I don't get involved any where in the process. In such a case, do we need to show a minimum investment in USA? Please suggest me any useful websites where I can learn more about this.

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

laborvisalaw — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:04:56 GMT

Alchemist-

Notwithstanding what has been said before, you should be very careful not to actually work for this new company. The U.S. immigration laws allow you to be a passive owner of a company and receive dividends only if you rely on somebody actually running the business.

From what you describe, your brother will not be running the company from India, instead you will be doing so from California. This is most likely to be considered "actively working for the company" and it may be considered a violation of your H-1B status. The chances that the USCIS will commence an investigation without anything more are small; nonetheless, you should consider the possibility of losing your H-1B. In addition, if and when you apply for a green card in the future, the application process may include review of your tax documents which may, in the best case, delay your application.

I urge you to consult with an immigration attorney who can hear more of the details and nuances of your plan and give you an opinion.

Best-

-laborvisalaw

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

amitdce — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:57:00 GMT

Hi Alchemist,

I am starting a company in the fashion industry here in Calfornia, and saw your posts. It might be useful for us to get in touch and exchange our findings. I am currently exploring whether we should take the LLC or C-corp route.

please reach me at amitdce @ gmail

-Amit

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

alchemist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:04:55 GMT

FYI: http://www.myllc.com/which-state-to-form-llc.aspx

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

alchemist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:42:06 GMT

Hello Nishant, I tried to go through this website http://www.delawarellcwyomingllc.com/ and it seems that opening a llc in Wyoming has some more advantages compared to Delaware. Though, I am not quite sure about it. Could you please post in your comment as to why you think Delaware is a good option for my kind of business.

Thanks

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

Lighthouse24 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:27:54 GMT

Any taxable item sold or shipped from your California location to a buyer within the state is subject to California sales tax. Anything shipped to a customer out of state is not.

A Delaware corporation operating in California is considered a "foreign corporation" and has to register with the California Secretary of State. Once you do that, you'll file with the California State Board of Equalization to get a Seller's permit. That filing process will answer most of your questions about this.

Re: H1B Visa holder wants to start a company in US with his family members back in India!

alchemist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:58:09 GMT

Thanks for your reply, Lighthouse. The only reason why I wanted to know is to stay competitive in the market. I don't want my customers to pay more because I reside in CA. Well, thats the reason why I was wondering if my company is incorporated in Delaware and I have a warehouse in CA where I keep my imported stuff. Would the sales tax be applied of the state where my wearhouse is, or of the state where the company is incorporated or of the state where my buyer stays in.

Nishant, thank you for your useful reply. As you said, for your online business, your
customers purchase in one state and goods are supplied from another
state. Most of the time you pay sales tax in the state where client lives
(where product is shipped). How come you are paying sales tax or did you mean you collect sales tax and pay state tax? Also, does it not matter where your warehouse is or where your company is incorporated? Since if you collect taxes from different states, do you have to pay state tax in all the states where you collected the sales tax from?

Thanks