bringing over employee from India

[monkfunk]

I have an LLC in America, we are a custom software and web development company.

I want to bring my right-hand man from India to the US to work with me directly.

2 questions:

1. how can I get him over here legally to work with me? I feel we will be much more productive working face to face and have him manage our team in india remotely.

2. how can I make him part of my company as a partner, legally?

thanks for all and any input!

[ciaossu]

I dealt with this previously for a past startup. So you're probably not going to like the answer.

He needs to be over here on a sponsorship and while there are several different kinds, the most common one used and probably the only one that may even apply is the H1-B status sponsorship. You'll need to consult an immigration lawyer for accurate details as the following is really base on my situation.

The requirement for the H1-B status is that whoever you're sponsoring, must have a degree from a university geared towards the position in which you are hiring them for. If the degree is for something not related to the job they are doing, this won't work. If you're bringing this guy in as a business partner, same deal.

The process to get him a green card status to work can be anywhere between 2-5 years and cost can range around $15,000. In the meantime, they typically give him a work status VISA to be in the US to work until approved. Upon approval, he can apply for US Citizenship which again can take another 5 years to process and possibly another $15,000. Keep in mind these numbers are pretty rough but generally speaking it's pretty costly and very time consuming.

You should consult a local immigration attorney near you for the best answer. At the end of the day, there's no way going about this. Otherwise your friend can only get temp status to stay in which he'll need to take frequent trips back to India in order to be in the US on vacation status.