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Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

startupvisa.com

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Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#191

Post by blizkreeg »

ajju wrote: post #106
briansmith wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is anything I said false? Because I used the word "just"? Take out the word "just" and everything we both said is true: there are VC's that aren't rich, and rich people will be able to abuse this to get their friends green cards, while those without connections have to wait and work for 7-9 years to get their green cards. Look at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4659.htm... . It says that the U…

Speed up the EB-3 process and lots of people stuck working under a H1-B would quit their jobs and start their own businesses. Why can't H1-B's do that right now? AFAIK there is nothing stopping them from moving to an EB6. I would. I don't think that is an argument against speeding up EB-3. I think that should happen as well, but is obviously much harder politically.

Not every startup and entrepreneur out there is able to raise funding. Many are bootstrapped. Of those many, some will definitely go on to become businesses that raise money later, make money, and/or create jobs. EB6 rules out all such aspiring entrepreneurs.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#192

Post by Kliment »

fierarul wrote: post #148
adw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, you can turn that round; my reading of what Brian said was that he thought this bill was open to abuse, which could make your reading seem disingenuous. Neither interpretation's fair to either of you, though. (I have no horse in this race; living in Europe, the idea of a visa seems a bit anachronistic, really.)

>(I have no horse in this race; living in Europe, the idea of a visa seems a bit anachronistic, really.) Heh, there are still people in EU countries (Romania, Bulgaria the least) that need visas to work in another EU country. So it's not all rosy within EU borders either.

As a Bulgarian citizen working in Germany, this is only partially the case. Germany does require work permits for Bulgarian citizens EMPLOYED here (except for certain exempt categories, such as scientific staff) but this does not apply to self-employment. In fact, there are no nationality restrictions for self-employment within the EU, and such restrictions would be illegal. So Bulgarian/Romanian citizens do need a permit to be employed within the EU countries that are still paranoid about their employment market, but don't need one to work there if self-employed.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#193

Post by ojbyrne »

As someone who's been in the US for 3 years now (not consecutive) on various work visas, and have been involved in startups, my opinion is - This thing sucks less than the current situation.

It's just not possible for the US government to fix things in a revolutionary fashion, but every little (very little) step forward is still a good thing.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#194

Post by potatolicious »

nzmsv wrote: post #145
potatolicious wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a Canadian who immigrated from Asia, and know a large number of rich Asians who have also followed the same path, the situation is really not as simple as you put it. The rich are in no way obligated to share their wealth with you - as the Canadian government has unfortunately learned. Our immigration programs have three paths: skilled labour, investment, and entrepreneurial. Skilled labour is simply lett…

Many countries, Canada included, have bilateral agreements on only taxing income once. So, if these people you know make money off foreign property, they pay taxes on it in the country where it is located. They do not have to pay taxes again in Canada. Which I think is fair: would you want to pay double taxes on your income?

This is not about double-taxation - but rather that taxes in Canada are higher than just about any place in Asia (for good reason: Canada has considerably more social assistance programs than most Asian countries).

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#195

Post by alex_c »

davemc500hats wrote: post #185
alex_c wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very happy about this proposal, and I certainly hope it passes, but the cynical part of me has to note a few things: 1) This hasn't passed yet. Let's see what happens, the US government is a bit deadlocked right now. 2) I'm not convinced this happens very often. Maybe I'm wrong. 3) I can't help but notice that the demand comes from VCs and investors - people who control large sums of money - rather than "citizens…

re: 1&2 -- yep, it hasn't passed yet... which is why we're still working on getting support & attention, and why a group of us is going to DC next month to discuss the issue with elected representatives. re: 3 -- um, "investors are people too". actually, what you should notice is that the "demand" came from people who were concerned enough to take action, and try and get something to happen. i can't disagree that it…

My point was that if, say, a group of unknown entrepreneurs was pushing for it instead of a high profile portion of the investment community, I am skeptical that anything would get done so quickly. It's not a value judgement, it's an observation - that's what influence is!

Don't get me wrong - I definitely appreciate what you guys are doing. I'll probably be first in line to apply if this passes, so thank you, and best of luck!

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#196

Post by davidw »

eagleal wrote: post #171
wheels wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually you need a permanent residence permit (Greencard equivalent), and then it has to be a fairly recent one as the laws were only harmonized in the last 5 years. And even then, the permit for most of the EU isn't valid for the UK or Ireland. In Germany the first permit that you get (an H1B equivalent) is tied to one job, and hence, tied to the place where you have that job. After 5 years of working full-time (and…

My fault, I don't know why I confused the permit to stay (expires every 2 years) with permanent residence . Well, in Italy you just need a home and revenue to obtain a permit to stay (work related). The permanent residence or permit to stay doesn't lock you to the first job it was issued for, though. However you can still (with the permit to stay) move between UE countries, just get back to Italy and declare revenue…

Whereabouts are you in Italy? You don't have any information in your profile. I'm in Padova.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#197

Post by ohashi »

henrikschroder wrote: post #135
blackguardx wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I currently live in the US. Can I just move to Europe and get a job? Or, do I have to do some sort of paperwork first (like get a visa)?

If you are not a EU citizen you need a residence permit and a work permit. I don't know how different the rules are between the EU countries, but it's roughly the same everwhere. A work permit is typically tied to an employer, and a residence permit is typically tied to a work permit. Here's the different kinds for Sweden: http://www.migrationsverket.se/info/1074_en.html

Easiest to get a student visa here in Sweden (I know, I am on one!). They are also a lot easier to deal with once you are in the country and trying to extend... just show them you have money/income and won't be leaching off their system and they are happy.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#198

Post by Yrlec »

tsally wrote: post #141
adw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, you can turn that round; my reading of what Brian said was that he thought this bill was open to abuse, which could make your reading seem disingenuous. Neither interpretation's fair to either of you, though. (I have no horse in this race; living in Europe, the idea of a visa seems a bit anachronistic, really.)

(I have no horse in this race; living in Europe, the idea of a visa seems a bit anachronistic, really.) I can understand why visas might seem obsolete from a European perspective, but from an American perspective regulation is a necessity. Per year we already accept the highest number of permanent residents in the world. In 2008 we naturalized a record number of people. And most importantly, per year we grant the hig…

I still think you are able to accept more people into the country. In 2007 the Swedish city Södertälje (with about 80 000 cititzens) accepted more Iraqi refugees than the US & Canada combined: http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work/Life-in-Sweden/A-multicul...

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#199

Post by adw »

ojbyrne wrote: post #153
adw wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, you can turn that round; my reading of what Brian said was that he thought this bill was open to abuse, which could make your reading seem disingenuous. Neither interpretation's fair to either of you, though. (I have no horse in this race; living in Europe, the idea of a visa seems a bit anachronistic, really.)

As other people have commented, when you say "anachronistic" you really are being chauvinistic. I.e. you're assuming that there's no such thing as non-EU citizens who actually want to work in Europe. Those people face similar hurdles to those wanting to work in the US.

There are barriers, and it sucks that people can't do that. I'd be overjoyed if we had full freedom of movement across borders.

That's what I mean; living in Europe you think about visas so rarely, despite crossing borders and looking at jobs overseas, that the whole idea begins to look archaic and paranoid.

Re: Senators Kerry & Lugar Introduce the Startup Visa Act

#200

Post by rms »

briansmith wrote: post #26

This would just allow the rich and connected to choose thousands of people to budge to the front of a 3-5 year long line that other green gard applicants (EB-3) are waiting in. If there are resources available to process more EB-5's and EB-6's, then put them to use accelerating the process for the people that have already waited years for their applications to be approved. Accelerate that process and you'll accelerat…

Brian, if you want to start your own lobbying group to fix any of the flaws in US immigration policy, I sincerely wish you the best of luck.
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