Can I invest money with my current employer who wants to expand his current business to another state? Will there be any issues if I invest in this project while working on that project if I am currently on an H-1B visa with my employer?
You can make an EB-5 investment in a business you may be a percentage owner of and on this basis you may file a petition and apply for conditional permanent residency. Besides your employment with the company, you will have to show how your investment led to 10 additional direct full time employees.
You will have to consider the slightly different requirements for an existing business, but with the assistance of EB-5 counsel, you may still have options with your employer.
That would depend on whether the new expansion can be structured as a new commercial enterprise for the EB-5 immigrant investor purposes, and also what your role is with that business.
In general, when you are on an H-1B you can only work for the employer on the job that was listed on the petition. Any change in your role in the company should be noted by filing an amended H-1B. However, you can also file for an EB-5 visa while still on an H1-B. So the only question is how much your current job will change if you work on the investment project? If you do not begin working on the investment project until the I-529 is approved, then it sounds like you would be in valid H-1B status still. If you want to begin working sooner and that is a big change from what you are currently doing, then it sounds like your employer would need to file an amendment.
We would need to analyze the facts to see if it will qualify as a new commercial enterprise, ten new jobs will be created.
H-1B is employer and job specific. So, if you invest in the new company owned by both of you and your employer, there may be multiple issues. One of them is the unauthorized work; another issue may be involving employer-employee relationship.
