Julien

Hello
I cannot find on any wheb site is F1 and H1 visa holder are allowed to
create an LLC.

I currently hold an F-1 visa (I'm working in OPT). I would like to
create a LLC and work in my LLC. Then, I will switch for a H1 visa
(sponsored by the company I am working for right now). So, I would like
to work for the company which sponsores me for the H1 visa AND for my
LLC (no employee). Is is possible? I didn't find any answer on INS web site.

Thank you
Julien Sobrier

Blatt

julien <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Hello
    > I cannot find on any wheb site is F1 and H1 visa holder are allowed to
    > create an LLC.

It is not that you are not allowed to create a LLC but that you are
not permitted to work outside the terms of your visa, and also that
ownership of a LLC or any other business presumptively suggests that
you have management responsibilities and/or that you are committing
visa fraud.

You are, for example, entitled to invest passively in US enterprises
or securities. If you held a minority share in a LLC geographically
removed from where you are employed, that should make a difference.
(Whether it would, in the mind of a bureaucrat who happened to be
feeble-minded is another story.)

Often the issue is resolved by having a strawperson own the shares, or
be the member of the LLC, and the alien visaholder having an option to
buy. LLCs are so flexible, however, that it may be that a creative
attorney can resolve this for you quite easily. You might possibly
find something on LNET, a discussion group on LLCs for lawyers, and
their resource page is at
http://c2.com:8000/LnetStatePages