Can I start my own company in the United States with an H- 1B visa?

Can you start your own company and make a profit while maintaining the status of H 1B? The answer to this question is that people with H- 1B status can start a company, but unless an application for H- 1B is made in the name of this company and approved, individuals with H- 1B status cannot work part-time in their own company. Individuals with H 1B status can only work for the employer of H 1B in the positions specified in the application. Therefore, any work that does not meet the requirements stated in the application for approval of H 1B is illegal and violates the requirements of non-immigrant status of H1B. In other words, if you have a job, you must have the corresponding H- 1B employer and approval. It is illegal to work for an employer without the approval of H- 1B, even for yourself. When answering whether you can work, you must first define "employment". Employment is generally defined as "service or labor for the purpose of obtaining wages or other remuneration" in immigration law. If a person with H 1B status starts his own company and works in it, the work he is engaged in will eventually be converted into the income he (as a shareholder of the company) obtains, which constitutes an employment relationship. No matter whether the work results in profit or loss, as long as it is for profit, it constitutes an employment relationship, and such employment needs to be approved. A real "volunteer" refers to voluntary work that doesn't charge any reward and has no benefits to give back (for example, food banks put food on the street, or help passers-by donate money whenever there are natural and man-made disasters, etc. This kind of work is unilateral, so there is no problem of illegal work. In contrast, if a person with H 1B status makes negative investment in a company, but does not engage in any work in the company, such as buying shares of a company, he may be able to collect dividends for his investment without violating the provisions of H1B. If his employer can get another approval from H 1B, a person with H 1B status can also get a second work permit. By the same token, other students like F- 1, who are H4, and other foreigners without legal work permits are not allowed to engage in any work in any enterprise except real volunteer work, without any remuneration and benefits. This not only means no remuneration, but also so-called "voluntary work" that leads to family or individual profits. Therefore, this situation does not belong to the scope of pure voluntary service permitted by law.