Yes, you can. The H-1B Modernization Rule, which took effect on January 17, 2025, formally opened a special pathway for “owner-beneficiaries” to sponsor themselves for an H-1B visa through a U.S. company in which they have a controlling interest (defined as ownership of greater than 50%). Such “owner-beneficiary” H-1B visas will be valid for 18 months for the initial approval and first extension, but otherwise provides the same benefits as a regular H-1B visa.
- The 2025 H-1B Modernization Rule lets owner-beneficiaries with over 50% ownership self-sponsor through a U.S. company, with 18‑month initial and first-extension validity.
- You must have a qualified U.S. corporate entity, a specialty occupation role, proper degree credentials, and be selected in the annual H-1B cap lottery.
- The startup must pay at least the prevailing wage and show it can sustain this pay, particularly to qualify for the 18‑month H-1B renewal.
How to Sponsor Myself for an H-1B Visa: The 2025 Rule Change
Why Couldn’t I Sponsor Myself for an H-1B Visa Before 2025?
This was a major change from the pre-2025 framework. Before January 2025, the H-1B visa strictly required a hierarchical “employer-employee” relationship where the employee-beneficiary wasn’t allowed to have control over the terms and conditions of their employment, and a beneficiary’s majority ownership in the petitioning entity was perceived as a highly risky, if not potentially disqualifying, factor for H-1B visa eligibility.
The 5 Requirements to Self-Sponsor an H-1B Through Your Startup
By contrast, under the new regulations that is currently in force since January 2025, an “owner-beneficiary” can qualify for an H-1B visa if they can prove the following elements.
1. A U.S. corporate entity exists, which is legally registered to do business in the U.S. and has a Federal EIN.
Even under the new rules, a foreign national cannot ‘self-petition’ for an H-1B visa. There must be a separate U.S. legal entity duly registered in a U.S. state, which can take the form of a Corporation or a Limited Liability Company (LLC), for example, that would act as the petitioner. An “owner-beneficiary” can create the petitioner by forming a legal entity in the U.S. that meets the requirements to do business in the jurisdiction the beneficiary will work.
Note that the H-1B regulations expressly require that the petitioning entity (the U.S. company) obtain an IRS tax identification number, which means a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). This must be set up well in advance. If the beneficiary needs to register for the annual H-1B lottery in March, for example, the company must already have an FEIN before the lottery registration is submitted.
2. The “owner-beneficiary” will be employed by the petitioner to serve in a “specialty occupation” and engage in “specialty occupation” duties for a majority of the time.
“Owner-beneficiary” H-1B cases are also subject to the general H-1B visa requirement that mandates that the offered job is a “specialty occupation.” What this means is, the H-1B visa is only for positions that require specialized duties involving the “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge,” and a Bachelor’s degree or above in a specific area of knowledge must generally be required for entry into that occupation.
For “Owner-beneficiary” cases, it is permitted under the regulations for the owner to engage in incidental entrepreneurial duties relating to owning and directing that business, but they must be doing “specialty occupation” duties for a majority of the time. Take the example of “accountant” as a specialty occupation. It is possible for an accountant to set up their own accounting firm, and apply for an H-1B visa to work as the principal accountant, providing accounting services for the firm’s clients. In this case, the majority of the beneficiary’s duties must focus on accounting duties, although it is permitted for the beneficiary to spend a minor amount of their time engaging in tasks related to owning and directing the business. As such, it must be arranged that the beneficiary will spend a sufficient amount of time engaging on direct hands-on duties that are expected for that specialty occupation.
3. The beneficiary has the required degree for the specialty occupation.
Like all H-1B visa applications, the petition must show that the beneficiary has the required degree to qualify them for the specialty occupation. If the occupation is “accountant,” for example, the beneficiary must actually possess a relevant degree in the Bachelor’s level or above, such as in accounting, finance, or other closely related field. If the beneficiary’s degree was granted by a foreign (non-U.S.) university, the beneficiary must obtain a U.S. education equivalency report that confirms that the foreign credential is equivalent to at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree according to the AACRAO EDGE database. Three-year bachelor’s degrees tend to run into issues, so it is recommended to get the degree assessed well in advance to ensure the degree is indeed equivalent.
4. The beneficiary has been selected in the annual H-1B lottery.
As private sector employers are subject to the annual “cap” on the maximum number of H-1B visas that can be issued. Because each year the number of H-1B visa applicants exceed the annual quota (“cap”), in March each year USCIS holds a lottery to randomly select the beneficiaries who will be allowed to proceed with an H-1B application for the following fiscal year, which starts on October the same year. Once selected in the cap, a beneficiary is given a maximum of six years of possible H-1B visa status.
In order for an owner-beneficiary to apply for a visa or change of status to H-1B to work through their own startup, the beneficiary must apply and be selected in the H-1B cap lottery in March of the previous fiscal year, or has already been previously selected (for a different H-1B employer) and as such is only doing a change of employer within their previously granted six year H-1B limit.
As such, if a beneficiary has not been selected in the H-1B lottery before, this practically means a beneficiary must first apply to the H-1B lottery in March, and only if they are selected, they can go forward with an H-1B petition for which the earliest start date is October 1 of that same calendar year. Advance planning is crucial to allow enough time to go through the steps of H-1B registration, lottery selection, and submitting the H-1B petition, which each step taking multiple months to prepare.
5. The petitioner will pay at the beneficiary at least the prevailing wage for the occupation and region.
Another key point for owner-beneficiary cases is that the beneficiary must be compensated at or above the “prevailing wage” for the occupation and the region. The prevailing wage is calculated through the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics database, and depends on the percentage distribution of the salaries currently received by U.S. workers in the same occupation in a particular region. If a position is a senior-level position requiring higher levels of work experience or skills than the average, a higher prevailing wage will apply.
This means the startup must eventually make enough revenues to consistently pay the offered wage rate to the beneficiary, which must be at or above the prevailing wage for the type of occupation and the region. At the application stage, a detailed business plan may help explain to USCIS how the startup will generate the projected revenues and how this will be sufficient to cover the offered wages. It is also important to note that an owner-beneficiary H-1B visa will only be valid for 18 months in the initial petition, and the subsequent renewal will also be for 18 months. To successfully secure the renewal, the startup must have actually paid the required wages to the beneficiary. It may be a good idea to inject some working capital into the startup to provide enough runway for revenues to stabilize in the initial stages while compensating the beneficiary.
Start Your H-1B Self-Sponsorship With Scott Legal, P.C.
As outlined above, the 2025 H-1B Modernization Rule formally introduced this owner-beneficiary option, which was welcomed as a positive change that opened new possibilities for many professionals who were not able to secure a third-party institutional job offer. Scott Legal P.C. has significant experience in this area and can help clients make the necessary arrangements to proceed with this path while ensuring to address all H-1B requirements.
