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Comment by mcos | Hacker News Reader

Does this mean that I can establish my own business on a H1B and then have that business sponsor my visa so I can work for it?

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Yes, but you have to prove that there is a separate Board of Directors which has the ability to hire, fire, pay and supervise you. If you get funded, i think its easy to prove

Where did you get that from?

The new rules seem to say that you can do this as a sole proprietor.

The updated memorandum still talks about the control issue of having an employer-employee relationship. If you can't demonstrate that you can be fired (amongst other things), it doesn't pass the employer-employee relationship. You can be the sole stockholder, but you still need an entity within the company that has control over you - the example they give is a Board of Directors.

I'm pretty sure you can do that without an H1B, but you can't work for that business (your own business) without an H1B.

Yes, anyone (barring odd things like maybe felons?) can form a corporation in the US. But without a status like H1B you cannot work for that corporation in the US.

You just need to show that you will report to a board of directors that has the ability to control what you work on or whether or not to continue to employ you (this really isn't too far off from anyone else starting a company with cofounders and investors).

Then how is this different from regular H1B anyway if you need cofounders and investors? It's not as if they're giving a concession for EB2 since you need to have an advanced degree/10+ years exp. or national interest waiver even with the new rules.

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