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Ask HN: What are the pathways for a H1B guy to start a company in US?

19 points by princevegeta89 ↗ HN
Hi all, Wanted to get insights from y'all on starting a company within the U.S. as an Indian immigrant on H1b who's never going to land a green card through employment.

I work for one of the SV companies and have recently been serious about one of the ideas I have on my mind. I am currently working on an MVP and plan to take it to investors in a month or two. I have a positive feeling about it, and I am much motivated to continue in that route and make it my full-time affair.

The only, and only obstacle I see is immigration. I am married and my wife is on her own H1b as well. I've gone through countless articles, spoken to people, researched the internet, but still do not have a 100% coherence on all the twists and gotchas involved here. Similar discussions went on here quite a while ago (> 5 years), but I am willing to see what it's like today. I can think of the following options:

- Get a H4EAD and be dependant and legally found the company, and run it, while taking the risk of being hit by the shaky executive actions for purported to be unleashed at any point.

- Find a cofounder on GC or with an American Citizenship and have them hire me. The risk I see here is that I only get to remain as a "worker" for the very company I founded who can be fired at any point for any reason or no reason. I have heard horror stories that happened to people in the past and I just cannot trust this path 100%.

- Move to Canada, the country that welcomes immigrants with arms wide open. I will be able to run my company with a GC there no problem. I am just slightly concerned about finding talent and VC access there. Shouldn't be too much of a problem I guess though.

Has anyone of you been through a situation like this? what was your path? What risks did you have to take? What were the factors that resulted in whatever decision you made?

Your answers and insight will be incredibly valuable to me, all help is truly appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance!

12 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 35.7 ms ] thread
justaguyhere
Have you talked to a good immigration attorney? There are tens of thousands of people in this situation - perfectly capable of starting companies (at least, able to be one man business owners instead of wage slaves) except some murky rules and laws don't allow them to do so.

It would help tremendously if the rules are amended to allow H1B people to start businesses - say after 5 years on the visa or something. Not that I see any progressive action happening in this area in the current political climate ...

moxd
I agree, immigrating permanently in the US is a very hard endeavor, if you are not marrying a US citizen. I think before even starting your venture you should clarify your immigration status, last thing you want is adding extra uncertainty to entrepreneurship. Lawyer up. Also Canada is not that easy either.
princevegeta89
When you say Canada is not easy, what did you mean there?
moxd
I was making a reference to "Move to Canada, the country that welcomes immigrants with arms wide open", that's not the truth. I don't know the details, might be easier than the US, but they're not gonna hand you a passport when you cross the border. Especially if you consider the country as a back-up/second zone country, not the best mindset to immigrate somewhere.
greatwhitenorth
If you don't know the details, how do you say it's not the truth? I was on H1B in US and moved to Canada as a Permanent Resident. The process to become a Permanent Resident is incredibly easy. You don't need a passport to start anything. Being a Permanent Resident will do. You just can't vote and not get high security government jobs, that's it.

It's a great option for anyone looking to start their own startup.

moxd
You are right. His claim seemed kind of over-optimistic, and I wanted to warn him not think it's all so simple.
digianarchist
Actually it’s a lot easier to move to Canada than the US.

I did it with zero employer sponsorship and it costs about $3000.

4 years later I’m Canadian.

e15ctr0n
Contact Peter Roberts, an immigration attorney for SV startups that does regular AMAs here on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts

Your question has come up any times in his AMAs. Those who were in your situation and are now successfully into their own startups now have replied in the comments. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22769789

Canada is also very do-able. In general, ignore the nay-sayers on this thread.

princevegeta89
Thank you, this is and incredibly useful comment. This guy seems to be a godsend. I am bookmarking all of the stuff right away. Thank you again and stay safe.
greatwhitenorth
I was on H1B and moved to Toronto as a PR. If you want to start your own startup, move to Canada. It's a great option. Even if there are ways to start a startup in US, visa renewals/visa stamping are unnecessary stress.

I don't know about VC access but you shouldn't have any issue with finding talent in Toronto or Vancouver. And, there is an option to recruit remote employees too.

princevegeta89
Thank you for the reassurance. Are you working for a startup? Or a big company? How is the general vibe around startups there?
greatwhitenorth
I'm in Toronto, remotely working for a startup in US. I don't know much about the startup scene in Toronto. If you need info on startup related stuff, do get in touch with Mars - https://www.marsdd.com/.