Advice wanted about obtaining visa to work and live in USA

[mrblackthecat]

We live in the UK and some friends of ours are setting up a new small retail business in California and they want us to be involved in the running of the business. I would be primarily involved in the website design/maintenance of the business and both my wife and I involved in the rest of the general day to day running of the business.

I am just looking for some advice on the possibilities of how to make this work?

Is the only way for them to sponsor me/us for a visa (H1B, L-1A, L1B) or does anyone know of better ways to make this happen?

We have just started looking into this and getting a bit bogged down in all the information online so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[bgfork]

Pretty much

[mrblackthecat]

Thanks for confirming that.

I'm not sure why I mentioned the L-1A and L-1B visas as they are related to the intracompany ones which wouldn't apply in this instance so it would have to be a H1B visa I think.

My thinking is, they sponsor me on a H1B visa and my wife joins me on a H4 visa which allows her to work in the US too?

It sounds like these are quite hard to get hold of though due to limited numbers and high demand.

[bgfork]

Yes they are quite coveted. Some congress members are considering a bill to set higher minimum salary for H1B positions. Others are considering an 'auction' approach. H4 currently allows spouses to work but the Trump administration is looking to change that.

If your friends also have business in the UK, the CA one could be considered a subsidiary of the UK one and you can use L1 to transfer after working for the UK location for 1 year (not super sure about this).

[Ronnie2112]

Thanks for confirming that.

I'm not sure why I mentioned the L-1A and L-1B visas as they are related to the intracompany ones which wouldn't apply in this instance so it would have to be a H1B visa I think.

My thinking is, they sponsor me on a H1B visa and my wife joins me on a H4 visa which allows her to work in the US too?

It sounds like these are quite hard to get hold of though due to limited numbers and high demand.

Yeah, you just missed this year´s "H1-B lottery" so you have to wait till next year April anyways. Do you fulfill the H1-B job requirements?

https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-dod-cooperative-research-and-development-project-workers-and-fashion-models