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I am on an H1b Visa working for company A. My Green Card has just been filed. My friend is a Green Card holder working for company B.

We want to start a start-up business as co-founders. Can anyone recommend what is the best way to do this? My friend can quit company B, but what do I do to be a legal co-founder?

Is being a passive investor and having him manage the company an option? Will I be a co-founder in that case?

How can I maintain my current job (while waiting for my Green Card) and still be a co-founder for another company?

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possible duplicate of Anyone started a company while on H1B visa?. The question is whether or not your H1B sponsor will tolerate you having a business. – Karlson Mar 9 '12 at 21:53

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First of all - check you contract with company A. There may be some legal limitations for you to do something like that.

Second - you cannot officially work for you own company if you're on H-1b, but you can own a part of that company. So you can be a co-founder, but just make sure you're not officially employed there (e.g. you don't have official title and don't get salary).

Also make sure it's a C-corp, because if you do LLC - you'll have to report company's taxes on your tax report, so that might be a bad sign for the INS.

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