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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

183 points proberts | 3 comments | 17 Oct 24 16:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source

I'll be here for the few hours and then again at around 1 pm PST for another few hours. As usual, there are countless possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my answers. Thanks!

Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.

1. sangupta ◴[17 Oct 24 16:27 UTC] No.41871135[source]▶
Is there a possible track for H1B holders (solo/team) to be able to start one? What I have usually been briefed is that you need a US citizen as a majority stake holder. Thanks.
replies(1): >>41871357 #
2. proberts ◴[17 Oct 24 16:52 UTC] No.41871357[source]▶
It's challenging but not impossible. A key is having less than 50% ownership interest in the company and an employment agreement with the company. It's close to impossible where the ownership is vested and at or above 50%. Again, not impossible but extremely challenging. The other owners also can be foreign nationals; they don't need to be U.S. citizens. So, where there are three foreign national founders, each owning a third, this should be fine.
replies(1): >>41872751 #
3. sangupta ◴[17 Oct 24 19:04 UTC] No.41872751[source]▶
Thanks - this helps.

> employment agreement with the company

I believe this means that once the entity is founded and funding secured, all participants will need to transfer their H1B to this new entity in order to work for it, right?