Basing Yourself in the USAKarthik Sundaram focuses on helping technology firms build effective brand and communication platforms in print, online, and direct marketing.
Before founding Purplepatch LLC, he was the managing editor at Silicon India, the leading US-based magazine about entrepreneurship and Indo-US business relationships. He has previously worked as creative director at Wordmaker–Indigoz, Singapore, FP7–McCann Erickson, Dubai, and JWT in India. Karthik brings a deep understanding of diverse technology verticals including software, hardware, applications, IT services, and BPO.
He holds a master’s degree in Technical Communication from the IIT, Chicago, and degrees in industrial design and mechanical engineering.
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As an independent contractor, attempting to base yourself in the United States is not easy—and that is putting it mildly.
To begin with, an immigrant must be a legal resident of this country to begin a consulting business—and this in turn is tied to the immigration casework to be filed by an employer or a family who are US Resident Aliens. A Resident Alien in the US is a foreigner who is a permanent resident of the country in which he or she resides but does not have citizenship. To fall under this classification in the US, you need to either currently have a green card or have had one in the last calendar year. You also fall under the U.S. classification of resident alien if you have been in the US for more than 31 days during the current year along with having been in the U.S. for at least 183 days over a three-year period that includes the current year. This then puts a nice damper on quite a few entrepreneurial thoughts.
I will describe some of the issues and ways to resolve these here. Do note that these I learned these from personal experience: you are well advised to seek advice from an immigration attorney and other financial and legal advisors.