I don't understand. I recently incorporated a C-Corp in Delaware remotely from Malaysia (never stepped a foot in American soil), single founder. So it means if you're _there_ under H1B then you can't do that? I wonder if you can setup a company in your country of origin and have that company incorporate a company in the US, will it work?
You can start a company, but you can't work for it. Unless you transfer your visa to that company, but then things like funding become very chicken and egg- you don't want to transfer your visa until your company is viable, but investors are going to be wary until you can prove that everyone can legally work for the company.
Yes, in US anyone can start a company, but the catch is, you can't work for it without proper work authorization. So, practically, this means you can't start a company if you are going to take an active operating role within the company.
That's the law. The reason is, you can be a passive investor in a company, similar to buying stock in a company. This is allowed on any type of visa including H1B. But, if you are taking an active role, you are working for your own company and you cannot work for a company without work authorization. The work authorization could be CPT, OPT, EAD or H1B ( there might be other forms of work authorization I am only aware of these few).
