Under current immigration law an international student is only allowed to invest in a business. S/he can't get paid by his/her own business and can't work for his/her own business, unless approved for CPT/OPT and that's only for a short amount of time. S/he will eventually need the H-1B visa and it's another complicated process to have his/her own business be the sponsor. Visit www.isvmag.com/readISV to read about one student's attempt to start a business in Oregon.
There should be more encouragement for these students to start and grow businesses. It will keep motivated and smart students in the U.S., as well as grow the economy.
Governor Deval Patrick (MA) recently introduced the Global Entrepreneur in Residence as a solution. Read more about it here: http://bit.ly/1hSw9P3