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I'm currently on OPT and will be switching to H1B soon. I want to start a C corp which will function as an online business.

  • Can my friends who live outside the USA develop the website? They won't be compensated for their work as the company is going to be in its start-up stage for a while. Would I ever be asked by USCIS about how the site is developed? If so, how would I prove that people in a different country are doing the work?
  • Say, I have a YouTube channel with a bunch of videos I appear in. If I share them on the homepage of the company site, is that considered volunteering? We're thinking my videos can help us earn customers.
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There are a lot of great questions on here about overlaping involvement with a Start-up and your H1B visa: answers.onstartups.com/search?q=H1B Read them. :) – Joseph Barisonzi Jun 22 '12 at 3:53
Consider moving to another country too. I've done it and it works well for me. – Evgeny Jun 22 '12 at 17:56

2 Answers

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You're allowed to invest in a business, but you're not allowed to participate in a business.

Meaning - you can fund the company, but you cannot be an officer, director or employee. You cannot sign contracts, hire employees, sign statements etc. You can only be a passive investor. Basically, if you're the only investor - you'll be breaking the law one way or another.

Volunteering in lieu of employment is employment as far as USCIS are concerned.

If the development is done abroad, why don't you have your foreign counterparts incorporate and just act as an investor for their company?

This is not a legal advice.

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  1. Nobody cares - you can ask your friend to do that for you for free - it's not illegal
  2. Don't do it, that will make USCIS think that you're actually doing some work there.

Very important - have a co-founder for your C-corp and make him/her take every single role (president, treasury, etc), otherwise you will be considered an employee there even if you don't take any salary.

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