Can O1 Visa Holders Start a Business?
The O1 visa is an excellent option for startup founders, entrepreneurs or artists. Our O1 visa lawyers assist founders of all stages worldwide. Contact us for a free evaluation today.
Can O1 Visa Holders Start Businesses?
It’s tricky to start your own business on O-1 Visa. The short answer is, you can own and incorporate a business on O1 visa, but you cannot work for it as the sole employee. According to U.S. immigration law, there must be a bona fide “employee and employer” relationship between the business and yourself. What this means is, your business, must have someone else working there that have the ability to “hire and fire” you as an employee, for example, a board of directors, an officer, or a supervisor. In a C-corp scenario, a Board of Directors can be elected to execute this power to “hire and fire” you, the O1 beneficiary. In an LLC, this could be a manager or managing member.
If you are an O1 visa beneficiary or thinking about applying for O1 to work for your own business, contact our immigration attorneys at Xu Law Group today.
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“Toni went above and beyond to get my O1 filed and approved. I went through 3 lawyers before Toni and she caught a nuance that nobody else had really understood. Immigration is stressful and most attorneys don’t truly care about your petition but Toni has a lot of empathy as an immigrant herself. Besides, she is sharp and extremely competent — not easy to find in immigration law.”
“I have got my EB-1 visa so fast and smoothly! Xu is very responsible and patient of everything, every questions I have, as well as my concerns. She is the professional lawyer I’ve ever worked with!! Thank you so so much!!”
“I do not know how to thank Xu for her assistance. She is nice, kind and very helpful. One of the absolute nicest lawyer I have ever met in anywhere in the world. I highly recommend her to anyone. If I could give more than 5 stars, I would. Thanks Xu!”
“Toni is an incredible lawyer. She helped me with my immigration case and went above and beyond. 100% success, would recommend!”
“Toni is a real professional: she understood my needs, the timeline we had to work with, she was always very responsive, willing to make the extra mile (met me at a public place during Covid to receive document hard copies), easy to communicate with and made the whole visa application process easy. My H1-B visa was approved within a couple of weeks - no additional request for evidence was needed. I was very pleased with the services provided by her.”
“I trust Toni for all immigration matters. She’s very responsive in email and is well informed of the latest immigration policy updates. She helped me process travel documents in a timely matter when I needed it urgently. She communicates clearly on what the next steps are. It’s rare to find a lawyer like her these days.”
“Toni helped me set up product import from China and cleared all the legal hurdles. She always responds promptly and is clear and concise with her help and answers! She’s given me advice that’s made me money! The best attorney in New York!”
“Miss Xu helps & guide me throughout the application for my citizenship. Truly a professional at her trade & will rehire her in the future.”