visa issue

M

materazzi5

Hello,

I am about to graduate from a US college in a week. I have an F-1 student visa, which gives me the right to work for a year in the US. After one year, I have to apply for a H-1b visa to continue working. My question is, if I work for a prop firm where I have to contribute a minimum amount of capital and get paid no salary, would that be classified as "employment" by the government? Or can I just do it without a work permit and be in the US with a visitors visa (which I also have). I am very confused about the legal relationship between prop trading (not remote) and visa status. I appreciate your help.
 
I have done quite a bit of research on this issue, it is considered as a job and you need to be sponsored by an employer who files taxes. Moreover the job that you undertake should be related to your coursework. There is no way out of this, if you decide to proceed to work for a prop firm , problems arise when you go for Visa stamping for your H1b in your home country or problems when you apply for a green card. Best bet is to open a Retail account with 25K and margin and do day trading, which is allowed.
 
why dont you just join a prop firm and trade from you country
Actually i also have a friend who want,s to trade from overseas
But i dont know what the requirment,s will be
Any one have any idea - ?
 
ksonsinc, The problem with being in the US as a non permanent resident is a murky one, your status is not permanent and at the same time you cannot claim the same tax benefits a foreigner can claim due to tax treaties. If you were outside the country you can file a 8 WBEN form for Tax and its perfectly legal to join a prop firm. But you cannot file a 8WBEN once you are inside the US and plan to apply for a H1B visa which entitles you to file a 1099. Now, the real issue is you cannot file a 1099 from another employer than the one who sponsors your H1B. Confusing enough ?? . It is.
 
Karth, why do you say that problems will arise when I apply for an H1b visa? Right now I would work for the firm with my current student visa, which allows me to work for a year in a job that relates to my field of study (as you said) and I studied economics, which relates enough to trading.
 
materazzi5,
Part of your H1b requirement is to work only for one employer, joining a prop firm would be considered as second employment and violate your H1b criteria. But i think you are confusing OPT and H1b, you can work on OPT for any number of companies and in any field, INS has no tabs on that. You would not break any rules. But once you go on H1B you can work only for the employer who sponsors your visa. H1b is not for 1 year, its 3 years + another 3 on extension.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top