H-1B for owners of their own US company: 18-month approvals, 2026 limits

This guide is for founders based in Korea, Korean or foreign, who are thinking about moving to the United States on an H-1B visa sponsored by their own US company. A US rule that took effect on January 17, 2025 confirmed that an owner can be the company's H-1B worker. Changes made in 2025 and 2026 now decide whether this route is practical. This is US law, not Korean law, so confirm your case with a US immigration lawyer. Figures are as of October 23, 2026.

What the 2025 rule allows

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final rule "Modernizing H-1B Requirements" (89 FR 103054) took effect on January 17, 2025. Among other changes, it:

• Confirmed that an owner with a controlling interest, meaning more than 50% of the company or a majority of the voting rights, may be the company's H-1B worker.
• Removed the old "employer-employee relationship" wording. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped requiring a right to control the worker in June 2020, so you no longer need to show that someone else can direct or fire you.
• Told officers to defer to earlier approvals involving the same parties and facts, unless there was a material error or change.
• Let more nonprofit and government research bodies count as cap-exempt when research is a "fundamental activity".
• Wrote USCIS site visits into the rules; refusing a visit can lead to denial or revocation.

Conditions for an owner-employee

• The company must be a US employer: it has a real job offer for work in the United States (remote work inside the US counts), a legal presence where it can be served with legal papers, and an IRS tax identification number.
• The job must be a specialty occupation that normally needs a bachelor's degree or higher in a directly related specific field, and you must hold such a degree or its equivalent.
• At filing, the position must be real and available from the requested start date. A day-by-day work plan for the whole period is not needed.
• You may spend time running the business, but you must do the specialty work a majority of the time.
• The company needs a Labor Condition Application certified by the Department of Labor (DOL) and must pay you the higher of the wage paid to similar workers or the local prevailing wage.
• With a controlling interest, the first approval and the first extension are each limited to 18 months. Later extensions follow the usual 3-year steps within the 6-year total.

Cap, registration and weighted selection

A new startup is normally cap-subject. Each year 65,000 new H-1B places are available, plus 20,000 for holders of a US master's degree or higher. The company must first submit an electronic registration, usually in March, paying $215 per beneficiary.

Since the FY 2027 cap season, a DHS final rule published on December 29, 2025 has replaced the plain lottery with weighted selection. A registration at wage level IV enters the draw four times, level III three times, level II twice and level I once. A higher wage level improves your odds, but the company must actually pay that wage.

The $100,000 payment and other 2026 changes

• A presidential proclamation of September 19, 2025 requires a $100,000 payment for certain new H-1B petitions filed from September 21, 2025, mainly for workers outside the United States without a valid H-1B visa. Changes of status and extensions granted inside the US are not covered. A proclamation of September 18, 2026 extended it until September 21, 2027.
• On June 8, 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts vacated the agency guidance that put the payment into effect (State of California v. Mullin), and on July 24, 2026 the appeals court refused to pause that ruling. DHS says it complies with the order but will collect the payment if the order is lifted, and the USCIS fee schedule dated October 16, 2026 still lists it. A founder applying from Korea should check uscis.gov on the day of filing.
• DOL proposed higher prevailing wage levels on March 27, 2026, and DHS proposed an extra $103,265 fee for every cap-subject petition on August 25, 2026. Neither proposal was final on October 23, 2026.

Government fees

Employers with 50 or more US staff, more than half of them on H-1B or L status, pay $4,000 more. Lawyer, company set-up and accounting costs vary and are not fixed by law.

Family and other routes

• Your spouse and children can come on H-4 status. An H-4 spouse can apply for a work permit only after you have an approved immigrant petition (Form I-140) or an H-1B extension beyond 6 years under the AC21 law.
• You cannot start working for your own company while on another employer's H-1B until your company files its own H-1B petition: each employer must file a separate petition.
• Other routes include O-1 for people with extraordinary ability; E-2 for treaty investors, open to Korean nationals under a 1957 treaty, for those who develop and direct a business with a substantial investment; and the EB-2 national interest waiver, a green card petition you can file without an employer.

Checklist

• Check on uscis.gov whether the $100,000 payment applies on your filing date.
• Set up the US company with a US address, an IRS tax ID and a real position from the start date.
• Hold a degree directly related to the job and plan to do that work most of the time.
• Get the DOL wage certification and budget for the wage level you register.
• Register in March and file within the window if selected.
• Expect 18-month approvals at first and keep an alternative such as O-1 or E-2 ready.