Four weeks · start or buy · worked on your own facts
The Immigrant Entrepreneur Cohort
Four weeks, while employed. You leave having read the routes that exist, with your questions for your own attorney written down, your entity work under way and the next ninety days mapped.
Price
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- Length
- Four weeks, plus office hours for thirty days after
- When
- Wednesdays, 6:00 pm Pacific
- Yours
- A private hour with leadership, every week
- Open to
- H-1B · H-4 EAD · F-1: CPT · OPT · E-2 · E-3 · TN
Who this is taught around. The business work is the same whatever your status. Entities, numbers, structure and the ninety days do not change. The immigration teaching is built around H-1B, H-4 and OPT, because that is who fills the room. If you hold E-2, E-3, TN or something else, you are welcome and you will get everything except teaching aimed at your own status. We would rather say that now than take your money and have you find out in week one.
01
The distance
You are not short of ambition. You are short of a map that says which road is open to you.
There are two ways to own a business here: start one, or buy one that already runs. Nobody has told you what each asks of someone on your status — so both stay theoretical, and the year passes.
This year, without the room
- You have read that immigrants start businesses at twice the rate of anyone else, and still cannot find the sentence that says you may.
- Starting looks like years before it pays you. Buying looks like a price the usual SBA-backed loan will not cover for you. Neither road has a first step you trust.
- Everyone you could ask is paid on one of the answers, so nobody has ever told you which road to walk away from.
Four weeks later
- One road chosen — start or buy — on your cash, your runway and your status, with the reason written down so you can defend it in six months.
- The entity formed, the roles inside it named, and the immigration constraint understood as a constraint rather than a rumour.
- Ninety days dated: the first week, the questions for your attorney and CPA, and the condition that would make you stop.
Sometimes the honest answer is “neither road, this year”. We say that out loud in week two rather than at the end.
02
Start or buy
Two roads. The four weeks exist to settle which one is yours.
Most programmes assume you already know. You should not have to — the answer falls out of your cash, your runway, your status and your appetite for inheriting somebody else’s mess. We teach both roads and choose yours on your own numbers.
Road A
Start something
- What it asks
- Time and patience more than capital. Runway to survive the months before it pays you anything.
- What it gives
- Full control, a clean entity you designed, and no inherited liabilities or staff.
- The status wrinkle
- A new company has no trading history, which is exactly what most immigration and lending evidence is built around.
- You leave with
- One offer priced and tested, the entity moving, and the cheapest experiment that could prove you wrong.
Road B
Buy something that already runs
- What it asks
- Capital, or a seller willing to carry a note — and the nerve to be in the shop rather than above it.
- What it gives
- Revenue, customers and a trading history from day one. Roughly a million owner-run businesses change hands by 2035.
- The status wrinkle
- SBA-guaranteed loans now require every owner to be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national living in the United States (SBA, effective 1 March 2026). Visa holders were excluded from March 2025, and green-card holders from March 2026, so the financing has to be built another way.
- You leave with
- A search brief a broker will act on, the deal size you can actually carry, and a first-ninety-days plan.
Where the road gets chosen
Week two, on your own numbers — the cash you hold, the income you need, the hours you have. Not on temperament, and not on which road we would rather teach. We are paid the same either way, and the same whether you go ahead at all.
03
The immigration constraint
This room is for immigrant entrepreneurs. H-1B is one route in, not the only one.
If you are a U.S. citizen by birth, this is not your room — the constraints below are the whole reason it exists. Every status here may own something; what differs is what you may do inside the company and what it must be able to show. Week one puts your own line on this table.
Everything here is public and checkable, and we would rather you checked it than took our word. Where we are reading a rule rather than quoting it, we say so.
H-1B
A primary beneficiary of the January 2025 modernization rule (89 FR 103054, FINAL, in force since 17 January 2025), which recognises a company you control petitioning for you, on a bona fide job offer.
Whether you hold a controlling interest (more than 50% ownership, or majority voting rights), and the 18-month limits on the first approval and the first extension that follow.
F-1 · CPT · OPT
Whether a student may form or hold an entity without breaching F-1 employment limits is a question for your school's designated school official and your own attorney. The training rules are where self-employment gets decided, and OPT and STEM OPT are not the same. CPT is different again: your school's DSO authorises it, only for training your curriculum requires, through an employer that has a cooperative agreement with your school (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i)). No rule we have read provides for CPT in a company you own; ask your DSO and your attorney. Since August 2026 SEVP guidance has told schools to approve CPT only where every student in the program must do it.
What can lawfully be built now, and what waits for a work authorisation. A rule that would end duration of status for students is FINAL, and a court POSTPONED it nationwide on 14 September 2026. The government appealed on 1 October 2026, so it can change (see the status block below).
H-4
With work authorisation, among the least restricted positions in the system for running your own company.
What happens to the business the day the document it depends on is late. Since 30 October 2025 an expiring card is no longer extended automatically (90 FR 48799, FINAL as an interim final rule).
L-1 · O-1 · E-2 · E-3 · TN
Each has its own route to owning and working — a qualifying relationship, an evidence standard, a treaty, or a named prohibition to read carefully.
Which of these your facts already fit, and which is a dead end worth crossing out early.
Green-card holders
Unrestricted as to owning and working. The constraint moves to money: since 1 March 2026, green-card holders may not own any share of a business that takes an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan.
How a purchase gets financed when the SBA-guaranteed lane is closed to you.
The one distinction that runs through every row
Owning is holding equity. Working is performing services for compensation. Nearly every confident wrong answer you have been given collapses the two into one word — and that is the first thing week one takes apart, whatever your status.
Primary law, verifiable directly: 89 FR 103054 (eff. 17 Jan 2025) · 90 FR 48799 (eff. 30 Oct 2025) · 8 CFR 214.2 · 8 CFR 274a.12 · SBA Policy Notice 5000-876441 (eff. 1 Mar 2026) · SOP 50 10 8.1 (eff. 1 Oct 2026) · SBA Policy Notice 5000-865754 (eff. 7 Mar 2025) · USCIS Policy Manual Vols. 2 and 7. Checked 3 October 2026.
The rows above are our plain-language reading of published rules, not quotations, and not a determination about you. Education and preparation only — never legal, tax or immigration advice, and no attorney–client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts.
Status of pending rules · checked 2 and 3 October 2026
Rules in these lanes are moving in weeks, not years. Each line below names the instrument, its stage and its date. The stage words mean: FINAL (published, and in force unless a court has stopped it), PROPOSED (published for comment, not law), EXTENDED (renewed by a new proclamation), ENJOINED or BLOCKED (a court has paused it or stopped its enforcement), POSTPONED (a court has delayed the date a rule takes effect), VACATED (a court has set it aside), NOT PUBLISHED (reported, with no text to read). Two of these, the student admission rule and the $100,000 fee, can change again on appeal within weeks. Rows 1, 2, 4, 5 and 13 were re-read on 3 October 2026, and the other rows on 2 October 2026. This is education about where each rule stands. Whether any of it reaches your situation is a question for your own attorney.
| # | Rule | Stage and date | What it does | How sure we are |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions | PROPOSED. Notice of proposed rulemaking, 25 August 2026. Comments closed 24 September 2026. | Would add a fee of $103,265 to cap-subject H-1B petitions. The proposal has no small-employer exemption. It excludes higher-education and nonprofit research petitioners. It is not law. FR Doc 2026-17324 | FACT |
| 2 | $100,000 H-1B restriction | VACATED (implementing guidance), 8 June 2026, State of California v. Mullin (D. Mass.). The First Circuit denied a stay on 24 July 2026, and the appeal is pending (No. 26-1699). EXTENDED by Proclamation 11069, signed 18 September 2026, effective 21 September 2026, to 21 September 2027. BLOCKED again, as reported: on 30 September 2026 a second court (N.D. Cal., Global Nurse Force v. Trump) is reported to have blocked enforcement under both proclamations. | USCIS says it will comply with the vacatur, so the $100,000 is not being collected today. The original restriction was Proclamation 10973 of 19 September 2025. USCIS H-1B FAQ (read 3 October 2026) · FR Doc 2026-19554 · plaintiffs' counsel announcement of the 30 September order | FACT that it is not being collected today. OBSERVATION on the 30 September order: our sources are the plaintiffs' counsel and one analytics summary, we have not read the order, and its scope is UNKNOWN. |
| 3 | H-1B program-integrity executive order | FINAL (executive order), 18 September 2026. | Directs State, Labor and DHS to weigh an employer's recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers when petitions are reviewed. Implementing guidance has not been published as far as we can find. White House fact sheet | FACT on the order. UNKNOWN on guidance. |
| 4 | F-1 duration of status: fixed admission period | FINAL rule published 17 July 2026 (91 FR 45124), effective date 15 September 2026. POSTPONED by court order. On 14 September 2026 the federal court in Massachusetts postponed the rule's effective date nationwide (5 U.S.C. § 705, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS). The government appealed on 1 October 2026 (First Circuit No. 26-2112). Duration of status continues for now. | If the rule takes effect: admission is fixed to the I-20 program with a maximum of 4 years. The departure grace period falls from 60 to 30 days. OPT and STEM OPT require a USCIS extension of stay. The eCFR shows the new text as if it were in force. It does not reflect the court order. FR Doc 2026-14439 · Study in the States · Memorandum and Order, 14 September 2026 | FACT. We read the order itself on 3 October 2026. No DHS or Study in the States page we read yet mentions it, so a school page may still show the rule as coming. |
| 5 | OPT fee rule | NOT PUBLISHED. Sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review on 20 August 2026. | Press reports describe a large OPT filing fee. Until a proposed rule appears, those reports are a hypothesis. Current I-765 fees are unchanged. | OBSERVATION (university international office). Press figures are HYPOTHESIS. We found no proposed rule in the Federal Register as of 3 October 2026. |
| 6 | H-4 EAD rescission | On the federal Unified Agenda as a long-term action, RIN 1615-AD14. No proposed rule. No date. | Would remove H-4 spouses from the classes eligible for work authorization. It is not law. | OBSERVATION (law-firm reporting) |
| 7 | Wage-weighted H-1B selection | FINAL. Published 29 December 2025, effective 27 February 2026. Used for the FY2027 registration, 4 to 19 March 2026. | A Level IV wage level gets four entries in the selection lottery and Level I gets one. A company that registers its owner at a Level I wage gets one entry. FR Doc 2025-23853 | FACT. No business challenge was filed before FY2027 selection (OBSERVATION). |
| 8 | Department of Labor prevailing-wage overhaul | PROPOSED. 27 March 2026. | Would raise Level I from the 17th to the 34th percentile and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th. It is not final. FR Doc 2026-06017 | FACT |
| 9 | End of automatic EAD extensions | FINAL (interim final rule), in force since 30 October 2025. 90 FR 48799. | For renewals filed on or after 30 October 2025, an expiring work-authorization card is no longer extended automatically, H-4 included. Extensions already granted on renewals filed before that date are unaffected. FR Doc 2025-19702 | FACT |
| 10 | Online-presence review for H-1B and H-4 visa applicants | State Department policy since 15 December 2025. It applied to F, M and J applicants from June 2025. | Applicants are expected to make social media settings public. | OBSERVATION (secondary reporting). We did not re-read the State Department announcement on 2 or 3 October 2026. |
| 11 | Cap-gap extended to 1 April | FINAL. Part of the January 2025 modernization rule, 89 FR 103054, in force since 17 January 2025. | F-1 students moving to H-1B are covered until 1 April, which is later than the old 1 October date. FR Doc 2024-29354 | FACT |
| 12 | $250 visa integrity fee | Enacted 4 July 2025 (Public Law 119-21). Not yet collected. | A fee created by statute. The date it starts being collected is UNKNOWN. | FACT on enactment. UNKNOWN on start date. |
| 13 | 60-day grace period for workers | PROPOSED. Published 11 September 2026 (91 FR 57807). Comments close 10 November 2026. | Would remove 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), the grace period of up to 60 days after a job ends, for H-1B, E-3, L-1, O-1 and TN workers and others, and for their dependents. It is not law. FR Doc 2026-18631 | FACT |
If a date here is older than the news, the news wins. Check the linked source, then take the question to your attorney.
04
The mechanism
How is that even possible? One company, four roles.
A company is its own legal person. Pull the picture apart and there are four roles — you hold two, the company holds two. Once you see that, the rule stops sounding like a loophole and starts sounding like bookkeeping.
You · role 1
The owner
You hold a controlling interest, which the rule defines as more than 50% ownership or majority voting rights. Before 2025 this counted against you. The January 2025 rule allows it, with 18-month limits on the first approval and the first extension.
Company · role 2
The entity
The company itself — in law its own person, separate from you, able to hold contracts and obligations.
Company · role 3
The employer
That entity is what petitions and pays. For H-1B it makes a bona fide job offer, and it has to be able to pay the wage.
You · role 4
The employee
You perform a role that has to qualify on its own merits, at a wage that has to be paid. The job is real or the structure is nothing.
Most refusals here are documentation failures dressed as legal ones — which is why weeks one to three put each of these four roles on paper as you go.
A note on income
The salary you earn as the employee is the wage the H-1B requires the company to pay. As the owner, a business can pay you in other legitimate ways too — the full breakdown is part of the programme, and your CPA signs off on which apply to you.
05
The four weeks
Two tracks at once, because they are decided together.
Every week runs the business you are actually building alongside the visa piece sitting underneath it. Tell us which road you are on and the business track adjusts.
Every week
A private hour with OYN leadership
A standing one-to-one you spend however you want — pressure-test a decision, walk a filing question through with the right person in the room, or take a gut check on something you have not said out loud yet. Yours whether you use it or not.
Week 01
Foundation & entity
The business
The entity types typically used here — C-corp, LLC; your formation attorney picks yours — plus the EIN, a business bank account and clean books from day one.
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The visa piece
A real, operating U.S. business with its own EIN and a genuine ability to pay the wage — and you own it, so it hires you. That is the bona fide job offer the 2025 rule asks for.
Handled by
Formation attorney · CPA
You leave with
The formation checklist your attorney and CPA will run
Week 02
Your role, revenue & sponsorship
The business
Your role in the company and how it earns — because the wage has to come out of real revenue.
{{ w2 }}
The visa piece
A genuine specialty occupation, most of your time spent on that specialised work, and the prevailing wage — plus how registration, selection and your attorney's I-129 filing actually work. Selection has been wage-weighted since 27 February 2026 (FINAL), so the wage level your role is registered at matters.
Handled by
Immigration attorney
You leave with
What makes a genuine specialty role the company can pay for
Week 03
Activate, and run your first payroll
The business
Running it day to day: an operating rhythm, lean systems with the repetitive parts automated, books that stay clean, and your first real payroll going out.
{{ w3 }}
The visa piece
How activation works — change of status versus consular processing, which you decide with your attorney — W-2 payroll at the required wage, and how owners plan around the 18-month limits on the first approval and the first extension.
Handled by
Immigration attorney · CPA
You leave with
Exactly how activation and payroll work
Week 04
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The business
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The visa piece
Nothing new to learn — this is where the ninety-day plan gets dated against your own validity clock, so the two calendars stop fighting each other.
Goes deeper in
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You leave with
Your next ninety days, dated
You also leave with a vetted bench of attorneys, CPAs and specialists who do this specific work — an independent referral network, disclosed as such. We connect you; you choose and hire your own, and we are paid nothing by anyone on that bench.
06
Is it yours
Take it if. Skip it if.
Take it if
- You want to be your own sponsor — to build or buy a company that becomes the employer petitioning for you. That is the route the January 2025 rule describes, with its own limits, and these four weeks are for learning exactly what those limits are.
- You are on a work visa or in the green-card queue and want a route that does not depend on one employer.
- You keep getting contradictory answers about what you are allowed to own.
- You are ready to do the work in evenings, alongside the job you still hold.
- You would rather be told “not yet, and here is why” than be sold hope.
Skip it if
- You want a guaranteed immigration outcome. Nobody honest can sell you that, and we will not pretend otherwise.
- You want someone to file for you. We teach and prepare; your attorney files.
- Your only obstacle is money for a deal you have already found. Take Buy Without the Bank instead — it is the room built for exactly that.
- You need one decision resolved this week. That is The Corner: one session, this week, open to anyone.
07
Enrol
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What lands, and when
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NOW
A receipt naming The Immigrant Entrepreneur Cohort and the dates you just bought.
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< 1 DAY
Joining links, the calendar file, your standing one-to-one slot, and the week-one formation worksheet.
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AFTER
Nothing else, unless you asked for it. One click unsubscribes from everything optional.
Card details never touch this site. Refundable less 5% within 24 hours, until you attend a session. No countdown clock and no seats-left counter — if the room is full this page says so and the button becomes a waiting list.
Choose your run
- September · began 2 Sep
- Closed · not open
- October · Wednesday 7 October
- 6:00 pm Pacific · four weeks
- November · Wednesday 4 November
- 6:00 pm Pacific · four weeks
- January · Wednesday 6 January 2027
- 6:00 pm Pacific · four weeks
08
Asked first
The questions everyone asks first.
Do I have to quit my job?
No — and we would usually tell you not to. The whole programme is built to be done in evenings while your status stays where it is.
Will this get me a visa?
No. We teach the rules and prepare your documents. Your attorney files, and USCIS decides. Anyone promising otherwise should worry you.
Do I need an idea already?
No. Week two is where build-or-buy gets decided, and buying an existing business is a real answer for many people here.
What if my status is unusual?
Unusual is the room. We teach how to find which of your facts matter and who is qualified to answer them.
Is it recorded?
Yes, for thirty days. Some segments are not, so people can speak freely about their own facts — we say which, in the room.
Will you introduce me to an attorney?
We can point you at an independent, disclosed network. We take no fee from anyone in it.
Boundaries
Said plainly
What this room is, and what it is not.
What we do
Teach published rules as written, on worked examples, and get you ready for the rooms where decisions are made. We say when we are reading a rule rather than quoting it.
What we are not
Not a law firm, not your attorney, not your CPA, and not a brokerage. We give no legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, take no position on your case, and never file or sign anything for you.
What attending does not create
No attorney–client or accountant–client relationship, and no sponsorship of any kind. Nothing said in the room is privileged. Every real decision stays with your own licensed advisors.
Rules move, and dates matter. Anything we teach is accurate to the date we state and no further — check the date, then take your own facts to your own attorney and CPA, who are the only people who can advise you.