I want to find out if we are the only ones, or if we have company. Basically myself and a couple of my friends are itching start up. We can't quiet sleep! We see the products out there, and we get a funny feeling, we feel we can do a LOT better. But we are International Grad Students, on student visas. We cannot drop out, even if we want to.( Visa becomes invalid, Currently there are no start up visas :)) Oh, if only Paul Graham were president!. I felt so jealous when octopart posted about his/her dropping out of grad school. We have come to the point, where we are trying to moonlight it. But as moon-lighters know, sometimes it is very hard. Are there more people like us? Leave a comment as to how you deal with it (tips!) Or just leave us a comment!
I graduated from school in the States this past December, and was in the same situation as you. I did some research and concluded two things:
1) Be very careful about staying in valid visa status. You don't want to leave the US then come back only to be told you can't enter.
2) Consult an immigration lawyer (I did). It's not impossible to work in the US on a startup full-time, but there are a few issues you should be aware of (said issues might delay you). Our american friends do definitely have it easier though, as they can drop out of school and not get kicked out of the country :)
The US does actually provide visas (look up E-2 visas) for people who want to set-up businesses in the States (only for citizens of certain countries). But it does seem that these visas stem from a somewhat antiquated view of what starting a company entails (some of the documents required for an E-2 application are incorporation papers, a detailed business plan, bank statements and other financial documents
showing where the investment funds are from and how much are involved, business lease, receipts and documentation of equipments, supplies, inventories, contracts and receipts, customer/client list, etc.)
Anyway, best of luck. Like I said, your best source of information is an immigration lawyer. Having said that, I'd also love to hear from other foreigners (real foreigners, not ones that are also American citizens :) who tried to start a startup in the States.
Sorry, can't be president (born in England). But as far as I know there is no reason you can't start a company on a student visa. You can't be hired by someone else's company, but you don't have to be a US citizen or resident to own a company based in the US.
Oh We can definitely own a company alright! But the problem is with time/mind space. Currently my entire spring break is dedicated (to pretending) to study for my Qualifier exams! I am hoping it will be better once I finish the requirements and start on the thesis. But it has to be moonlighting I guess, the visa has us cornered.
At Viaweb, two of the three main hackers (Robert and Trevor) were in grad school the whole time and actually got their degrees. In fact, Trevor got his a day or so before the Yahoo deal closed, and was the subject of Viaweb's last press release:
http://www.paulgraham.com/tlbphd.html
I believe some cofounders can still be in grad school, as long as at least one isn't.
I dont know about UK citizens, maybe there is an agreement by UK and USA but citizens from india cannot start a company or work on anything else other than the visa they are assigned.
I'm working on a startup on the side, and during the day I work with a couple of really amazing programmers on H1 visas. We get along great, I asked them to help, and before they started working my co-founder suggested we ask a lawyer, just in case.
We called the Murthy law firm (http://www.murthy.com/consult.html - experts in immigration law) for a free consultation and unfortunately were told that not only could my coworkers not work for us unless they
A) got an additional H1 Visa and
B) were paid market rates
but that they even came by and made the coffee on a regular basis they could be endangering their Visa status. We would have to actually put them on the payroll, which in our case would mean actually having a payroll.
Now, that is probably a bit alarmist but its the kind of thing that might scare off investors in the future. The sad part is that these guys would do amazing things for the startup. They have tons of free time, are absolutely the best programmers I've ever worked with and alot of fun as well.
So I'm no lawyer, just thought I'd share the bit of info I got on the subject.
I've been on an H1-B visa for two years, and have been doing a startup on the side for a year. If there are no more delays, I'll get my Green Card in about three months.
I'm going to have an H1-B visa as well soon (currently on TN). I was under the impression that you're not allowed to work for any other company or start your own while you have an H1-B/TN. Is that true?
You're allowed to start, and own, a company while on an H1-B. You're allowed to work for it too, so long as you continue to also work for the company that sponsors your H1-B.
You are not allowed to pay yourself anything from the new company while on an H1-B.
If one of your co-founders, or investors, is a US citizen you *might* be able to arrange a transfer of the H1-B to the new company. This is difficult and expensive though (at least we found it so). I decided it was more sensible for me to just wait for the Green Card.
As far as I know these revenues have to remain the property of your new company (you can leave the money in the bank, or the company can spend it on something). You certainly cannot pay yourself a salary using them.
So essentially what you're saying is that any assets that the company makes cannot be transferred to me until I am an American citizen? I wonder what the consequences would be if I am an H1-B holder and revenues from moonlighting grew to a point where I could quit my day job.
Since I am a Canadian, I also wonder if it would be easier to just incorporate in Canada instead - this does not seem optimal either, as Canadian taxes are incredibly high, and the fact that I own a company there would mean that I would not be able to maintain non-residency status (and thus am not exempt from Canadian taxes) =(
I don't know if the visa thing messes it up, but as a generic Canadian you can own American companies with no issues. I believe the issue is in you paying yourself a salary or the like from the corp. However you should be able to collect dividends just fine. It's been a while since I looked into it for myself, so don't trust me on this. Personally I ended up going for a private Alberta named limited corporation for several reasons.
The tax rate starts at 16% if you're poor poor poor like me and maxes at 33% or so total for both federal and provincial. Check into the US corporate tax rates. If I remember doing my research right, you might be better off being a Canadian.
I was on a student visa and then said goodbye to school after 1 year (in ESL school) and 3 months (college). I would have continued school if I had the fund while I work on my startup. If you still want to be able to see your family and visit your home country, the best way is to moonlight it. It is very hard but you gotta do what you gotta do. ;)
I feel you, i really feel you. I have been sitting on 3 implemented ideas, one of which is really good. Working on a 4th idea. Hoping that once the green card gets through, I can break out, start a company and hit the road. on reading this discussion here and this one here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40253, I did what I could, I blogged about it :)
You can own a business on an H1-B visa - I would talk to an immigration lawyer if I were you. I'm in the states on an L1-A right now which allowed me to bypass the PERM process and qualify for my green card under the EB1 classification; the waiting list under this class is only ~8 months. L1's are bit more expensive, but if you're in a hurry they're worth looking into.
H1-B is a work visa, Usually if you get a job in the states, the company sponcers you, as in pays fees to the govt, and agrees that they will pay you well so that you do not become a liability for the govt.Usually it is given for 2 years, after which you have to renew it which is a mess of a hell. Don't get me started on that.
I don't think this will be possible. But the best people to ask about this would be the folks at the International Student Center at your university.( As it turns out they are the ones who do the processing for the OPT in my university, so they know everything! )
