F1startup.md

A decision tree for international students (F1) to legally work for their own startups in the US.

This is NOT legal advice.

Let's assume this student's name is Zeyu.

graph TD
  A[register the company] --> B[Zeyu as a co-owner]
  A --> C[Zeyu NOT as a co-owner]
  
  C --> |Secretely work for the startup| Y[Potential legal issues.]

 
  BacktoF1(Can Zeyu  go back to <br> F1 to finish Bachelor's?)
  CPT[CPT. Only 1 year. <br> Full-time or part-time. ]
  TenPercent(Zeyu's share >= 10%?)
  FivePercent(Zeyu's share >= 5%?)
  IEPPhase1[IEP Phrase 1]
  IEPPhase2[IEP Phrase 2]

  GG[Startup fails <br> and no Green Card]
  X[Game Over]
  XX[American Dream is dead. <br> Go back to home country.]
  XY[Work for FAANG in H1b.]


  B --> |work under CPT| CPT
  B --> |work under IEP| TenPercent
  CPT --> |After 1 year| TenPercent

  C --> |work under CPT| CPT

  TenPercent --> |Yes| IEPPhase1
  TenPercent --> |No, <br> too much dilution| X

  IEPPhase1 --> |After 2.5 years| FivePercent
  FivePercent --> |Yes| IEPPhase2
  FivePercent --> |No, <br> too much dilution| X --> BacktoF1

   
  
  IEPPhase2 --> |After another 2.5 years| GG
  GG --> X

  BacktoF1 --> |No| XX 
  BacktoF1 --> |Yes| XY