Updated US immigration rules: H1-B can work for own company

Wait, are they saying I can create a company on my own, no holds attached and go work for it? (minimum investment etc.)<p>A few questions - does it let me build apps and publish them to the Appstore to make money? (Since that doesn't count as working fulltime for the company I assume).<p>How do they prevent Masters students who are on an OPT from creating their own companies and sponsoring a H1B for themselves? No regulations on the amount of investment required?<p>If both of the above are possible .. well, mind=blown.

Here is what I hate - a top-rated comment with 22 'recommends' and no dissenting replies:<p>"boblesch wrote: the immagration fix is so simple<p>institute a $1 million fine for every occurrence of employing an illegal. no excuses, no exemptions, no exceptions, no pardons.<p>the illegal immigration problem will DISAPPEAR the day the first fine is assessed."<p>This has nothing to do with the issues in the articles and detracts from meaningful change. The primary and pressing immigration issues in the USA have nothing to do with 'illegals' but any attempt to talk about it is quickly derailed into a pro- or anti-illegal debate.<p>I get so angry sometimes . . .

I saw 5 years of my life flash before my eyes when I read this.<p>This AWESOME news. I got my GC a year ago and I quit 3 montsh ago to start something so it doesnt matter now but I would've killed for this 5 years ago.

Note for Australians: These tweaks to the rules almost certainly apply to E3 visas, which would allow you to go to the States with your opposite-sex married partner, and they'd then be allowed to work in any job without further approval from the federal government.<p>(Through an odd quirk of a US immigration directive, it also allows you to take your non-US same sex partner to the States, but they aren't allowed to work in any capacity. It must be about the only place where US immigration recognizes same-sex relationships.)

H1B requires that the employee satisfies a minimum wage set by the Labor department (varies per state). So if someone on H1B wants to start their own startup with Americans (or existing green card holders?) on their board, will they have to be paid more than that minimum wage right from the beginning? That would need a higher investment to start with. What if the company wants to bootstrap rather than raise money from VC's? Also, would that mean that the person on H1B cannot own a majority stake in his/her own company (given the condition that the board should be able to fire him/her)? I think the changes outlined are open to wide angles of interpretation both by USCIS and the startups that want to 'hire' the founder(s) on H1B.

You basically need 400K to 500K investment and need to be paid at least 60K in NYC. I've spoken with a well known startup immigration lawyer about it.

I posted about this when it was announced <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2838357" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2838357</a> and there are a couple of links in there that should help clear up some confusion ... notably this one ... <a href="http://j.mp/nFD0xQ" rel="nofollow">http://j.mp/nFD0xQ</a> (link was real ugly, forgive me for using a shortener)<p>I was initially very happy about the announcement, but I think the employee-employer restriction is a trojan horse that really hacks the legs off from under the initiative.<p>here's the paragraph in question<p>&#62; Yes. In footnotes 9 and 10 of the memorandum, USCIS indicates that while a corporation may be a separate legal entity from its stockholders or sole owner, it may be difficult for that corporation to establish the requisite employer-employee relationship for purposes of an H-1B petition. However, if the facts show that there is a right to control by the petitioner over the employment of the beneficiary, then a valid employer-employee relationship may be established. For example, if the petitioner provides evidence that there is a separate Board of Directors which has the ability to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the beneficiary, the petitioner may be able to establish an employer-employee relationship with the beneficiary.<p>I see why they did it (CYA) but I think its kind of silly and counterproductive. I mean, you're trying to enable entrepreneurship but you want someone in the mix who is able to control them ... sigh

Great news that just made my day! But I dont really understand the details of this: Are they asking people to found start a business and give the total control (in term of decision making) of it to someone else ? The whole point of starting a business (to me at least) is to have the ability to build your idea, make it grow and share your vision to the world. Am i missing something ?? Anyway, this is still a very important step for us, foreigners.

is that really the problem? Surely the difficulty of getting a h1-b visa in the first place is more of a problem?

This is great and expected news for the last few weeks, but is it true that you need to be employed with minimum wage? That sucks! If I want to startup, I have to definitely go full time now and there is no way I can pay myself that wage. They need to relax this rule, if they want to really support startups.<p>This is my 8th year here in USA and I have a green card being processed. I have decided to give it all up, move to India to start working on my idea for a year and come back here next year as a dependent (my spouse would continue to remain here). If this rule allows me to create my own startup without the wage rule, I should be able to remain here on my own H1 and possibly continue my green card as well (or does anyone know how it works in this case?).

This is massive news. I met Vinod in SF when I was leaving the bay area, partly for visa reasons. Now it seems I can return with a company of my own, if it's set up the right way.<p>However, having spent 6 months fighting USCIS, I'm a little sceptical about it translating well into practice.

So if I, an Irish citizen, founded a company with Americans employed or on the board I can apply to stay beyond my holiday visa? Will be pitching like mad at YC NYC if this is the case!:)

Definitely a step in the right direction, but I think they should just turn the Bay Area into a Special Administrative Region similar to what Hong Kong is to China.

Great news. I think for the H1B category, the biggest improvement is that you can now point at a document and say "According to this document, my application is legal".<p>The bigger news really is the EB2 for entrepreneurs, but it remains to be seen how many companies qualify to be in the nation's best interest ...

Interesting. Does this mean that people who want to come to the US as a contractor could now bypass the "body shops" by creating their own "body shop"? This would mean that you have almost the same employment rights as a US citizen so long as you own a body shop company that employs yourself!

"How do they prevent Masters students who are on an OPT from creating their own companies and sponsoring a H1B for themselves? No regulations on the amount of investment required?"<p>Why prevent masters students from creating their own company if that creates more jobs and will probably help the economy.

I am excited but I am really curious about how I can bootstrap my startup while working for a big Co. on H1B. Is it possible with these "updated rules"?<p>EDIT - the "full time" sounds like a major hurdle for those who want to bootstrap. Am I correct?

Question to all hackers: How can H1B visa holders now effectively utilize this new ruling?<p>- Assuming no source funding yet. - I already read all the suggestions posted here but alot of questions still go unanswered.

Hmm this isn't bad, but I really hope it doesn't prevent real actual <i>change</i> (I seem to recall someone running on that slogan) so that one can get to the US and actually contribute something.

I hope this happens 10 years ago. But congratulation to all H-1B hacker news readers. You now can do something amazing without worrying about your visa.

Does that also apply to TN visas (kind of like an H1B for Canadians)?

Wait a minute, I got a question I hope people can clear up for me... because I see a huge elephant in the room.<p>So they're saying if you have a H1-B visa, you can work for your own company full-time.<p>But.. umm.. if you have a H1-B visa, that means you probably got it from your current employer whether it's Google or Goldman Sachs. That uh.. means you're already working for them full-time, and if you quit, then your visa is gone! And now the rule doesn't apply to you anymore.<p>Am I missing something here?