<aside> ⚠️ Warning: this is not legal advice. Make sure to consult an immigration lawyer before making any decision (we can recommend some, see below)

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What visas exist for entrepreneurs?

Immigrating to the US as an entrepreneur is not straightforward, but there are several options:

H1b visa

H1b visas are the most commonly used for business workers. It’s not necessarily the best option for entrepreneurs but it is viable

What are the requirements?

• Have a university degree or equivalent work experience
• Have comparable salary to those employed in similar functions (i.e. you can’t be underpaid)
• Have an employment offer from an American company (it can be your own company)

What’s good about the H1b visa?

• It’s pretty cheap to file ($5,000 or less)
• The filing itself is simple
• It’s a dual intent visa, meaning you can apply for a green card while on an H1b

What’s difficult about the H1b visa?

• There is a quota of 85,000 visas per year, historically there has been 2-3x more applications than available visas
• As a result, it’s lottery-based: you have to “be lucky” to get one of the 85,000 visas
• There is a strict timeline: applications are due in April and visas start in October. This only happens once a year
• There are requirements on the American company, e.g. it’s harder to justify having a single employee who is also the founder
• The spouse of the applicant does not get a working visa

O1 visa