

Ask HN: What can a potential startup founder do living in the US on an H1-B? - samiur1204

[Sorry, this is a repost, but I had no responses for the first one]<p>Hey guys,
I figured HN would be a good place to ask this, as some of you may have encountered similar situations. I've been living in the US since I was 14, and studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering at Cooper Union in New York. My mother was a diplomat, and until I got a job, I was staying in the US through her with the A1 visa. Once I got my job at Amazon, I switched over to an H1B visa, and have been on that since.<p>I've also been working on my startup idea with a few others for the past 7-8 months, and we're getting to the point that we will soon be pitching investors for funding. I've been working on this for most of my available free time, but I really think it's shaping up, and would love to quit and concentrate on it full-time. And even if that's not possible, if somehow we're able to make this happen while I'm working full-time at the job that allows me to stay in the US legally, I'd certainly want to stop working my job and concentrate on making my startup succeed. However, I'm not aware of any options for an immigrant to legally reside in the US without an employer sponsoring him for the H1B (unless I get married of course, but I'd rather not explore that route right now ;D). And since I'd be a stakeholder in the company, I don't think I can sponsor myself.<p>Do you have any advice for my situation? I'd be incredibly bummed if I had to give up my baby to foster care.
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mahesh_gkumar
There is a legal way you can be a founder and sponsor your own H1b. Check out
[http://www.quora.com/Can-a-H1B-holder-work-for-a-startup-
as-...](http://www.quora.com/Can-a-H1B-holder-work-for-a-startup-as-a-co-
founder). Get a very good lawyer though. I am on an h1b as well, and the only
thing I can recommend is, take care of your legal status first before starting
a company. US is not that kind to legal immigrants. Now if you are illegal,
all the politicians will line up behind you.

