Most Fruitful Business & Investment Ideas for H1B Visa Holders

To begin with, let us first understand who are H1B visa holders?

H1B visa is a non immigration visa for temporary workers in the US. The employer who gives job to such people applies for their H1B visa petition with the US immigration department.

H1B can invest in business

• A job offer for a specialty position (where a bachelor’s degree or higher is a must) from a qualified U.S. employer.
• A bachelor’s degree or higher that is relevant to the position.

There are many foreign nationals who settle in the US on the basis of non immigrant visa and decide to start their own business. You can always do so but there are certain rules to follow. If you are planning to initiate your business then you have to remain employed with the company which has sponsored your H1B visa. Once you understand the rules clearly, there are many fruitful business and investment ideas to secure your future.

In order to start your own business when you have H1B visa the best idea is to invest in someone else’s company. As the norms of the US state that if you are the H1B visa holder you cannot be a full time worker in your own company. You need to be the employee of your prospective company and this company can only apply for your green card.

Here are some of the best investment ideas for H1B visa holders:

h1b investment options

There is nothing that can stop you from being an investor that too one of the H1B visa holders in stock trading. It is assumed that starting a business by H1B visa holders is a tedious task but you should start from investing in the shares even if you are the only shareholder. Buy shares of any US company where you are not working and are allowed only for voting and attending meetings.

Hire someone to look after your business

As told earlier, that if you want to start a business you will have to continue being an employee, hence giving your cent percent to the business is tough. Hire someone on your behalf to look after the administration such that you are not loaded with a lot of tasks and duties.

Evaluate your business as a shareholder without working

As you are the investor you can look after the business without being in the business directly. You will still have the equal shares in business proceeds, gains and business value.

Invest in 401k

Image Credit:  Investmentzen

This investment is completely beneficial as you can save your taxes here. Investing in 401k is necessary because if you ever plan to leave the US you can redeem the entire amount by only paying 10% penalty without any extra tax.

Invest where you want to live

Image Credit: Plantingmoneyseeds

Many financial consultants recommend that first you need to decide where do you want to live before thinking of investments. Once you know your plan, make an attempt to invest around 75% of your assets at that place.

Mutual Funds/ NRE bank FDs/ Liquid mutual funds in India

Mutual funds are yet another option to make a wise investment. Keep first 6 months of expenses in your money market account and try to invest rest of the funds in mutual funds through a brokerage firm in the USA only. You can also try investing in NRE bank FDs or liquid mutual funds in India. Keep less than 25% of your funds in India if you have planned to stay in the US.

Beyond these fruitful ideas there are some important points that need to be kept in mind before starting your business with H1B visa.

• To make your work easier it would be better if you have a well defined business plan with complete research of the resources you would require.
• Make sure that our plan is unique and is not already being executed by someone else.
• Take help from the Small Business Administration to know about wide opportunities regarding businesses in the US.
• If you are under H1B visa status take some to research about the pros and cons of starting your business and then come to the conclusion.
• As H1B visa creates quite a confusing situation pertaining to new business and opportunities, counselling from immigration attorney is the most recommended option. Any mistake can lead to bad reputation hence taking help from the immigration lawyers is the best way to take further decisions.

Growing demand of EB5 visa over H1B visa

As H1B visa has created a bit of hassle among the foreign nationals a new type of visa has stepped in, EB5 visa or also known as Gold visa. Some investing-facilitating firms have reached out to rich Indians to go for EB5 visa because it promises faster route to the US citizenship. The US Immigration Fund has reported that due to complications caused by H1B visa the demand of EB5 visa has gone quite high.

Numbers of Indians graduating from the US colleges are opting for the EB5 visa over H1B visa for US citizenship. The rule also says that if a H1-B visa holder is let go from his or her profession, he or she should leave the US along with family neither he nor she is allowed to depend on others for remaining in the US as long as the individual is well behaved and restores the Green Card on time.

In the end…

There are some basic rules to everything and so is with H1B visa holders. There is no problem in starting your own business in order to hone your skills and experience but you need to follow the rules. If you are on the right way, then your investment and business ideas will be fruitful. Staying abroad is a challenge in itself and to make it successful without any financial issues follow these ideas and invest as much as you can to lead a better life ahead.