Asked in Employment Law and Immigration Law for Illinois

Q: I hold F-1 visa, and my mom (Indonesian) wants to have me as a shareholder in a planned US-based LLC. Is this allowed?

My mom is thinking of opening a US-based store, which shipping would be done through Amazon. In order to establish what she mentioned as LLC, she needs somebody who owns a SSN to be one of the shareholders. I have a SSN due to the multiple past on-campus jobs I had. I know that if this will be considered as a work, then it is not possible for me to be involved as this is not within my major (my major is Electrical Engineering)

1 Lawyer Answer
Lindsay G Gray
Lindsay G Gray
Answered
  • Immigration Law Lawyer
  • Austin, TX

A: You can invest, but you cannot work on an F-1. If you are planning to invest a substantial amount, I would take to an immigration lawyer about the possibility of an E-2 (non-immigrant i.e. temporary) or EB-5 (permanent i.e. pathway to green card) that are specifically for investors. Good luck!

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