USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
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Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#2A less "PR"-ey take (but still PR-ey non the less) on the White House Medium blog: https://medium.com/the-white-house/welcoming-international-e...
As an international founder who has had to suffer the stresses of dealing with US immigration while building a company based in the states, this is incredibly welcome news.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#3Although they mention funding and grants as the criteria and not revenue, I hope "Partially satisfying one or both of the above criteria in addition to other reliable and compelling evidence of the startup entity’s substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation." means that revenue will at least be considered to some extent.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#4Seems like the necessary investment amounts are pretty low.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#5[deleted]
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#6Unfortunately wealthy foreigners are just going to abuse the hell out of this to drive up real estate prices.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#7The number doesn't quite work out: you got two years, and if the business can demonstrate passing certain benchmarks (500k funding or (500k revenue and 20% annual growth) or 10 'murican jobs), you get another 3 years. 5 years is enough if your business fails fast, but otherwise it's unlikely to be sufficient for building one (on average).
This is a parole rather than a visa, so it still leaves the question on what's the follow up afterward.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#8It's pretty cool that they're proposing parole rather than an actual visa - I never thought of that possibility, but it seems to fix a lot of policy-related issues, such as visa caps, and allow qualifying entrepreneurs faster entry. Might short-circuit the process and we don't have to wait for politicians to agree that a founder visa makes sense.
Founders also wouldn't have to get a certified LCA or meet minimum wage requirements, which can be pretty costly for a startup and is less relevant in case of founders (who are not taking anyone else's jobs or lowering average wages). And generally founders would probably prefer (and have more to gain from) spending that money to grow the company.
I suspect there are downsides to paroles vs visa (like fewer rights or difficulty obtaining green card/other visa types later maybe?), but this seems like a surprisingly good proposal to fix an acute issue.
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#9It looks like this rule would provide the entrepreneur a 5 year stay (2+3 additional if the start-up is doing well), but I don't see any mention of granting a green card, so what would happen to that entrepreneur on year 6?
EDIT: from the medium link posted in another comment by yurisagalov:
> DHS will also publish guidance to clarify when entrepreneurs may self-petition for lawful permanent residence (also known as a “green card”).
EDIT2:
> That entrepreneur will have the confidence of knowing whether she is eligible for the temporary “parole status” pathway, allowing her to start growing her company here right away. Later, she will know under what circumstances she may qualify for the green card pathway, if she is successful in creating jobs for U.S. workers and attracting more capital from U.S. investors, allowing her to become an American over time. (Note that these pathways will likely also be open to "bootstrap" entrepreneurs who are successful in generating revenue from U.S. customers, without needing to rely on external financing.)
(From https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/11/26/entrepreneurs-wan... )
Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
#10This would definitely help foreign founders but after they have founded the company in US since 3 years. That initial period of founding a startup is the most difficult part for immigrants in USA as their visas are tied to employer (like H1B).
So would this "startup visa" help in anyway in that initial stage of founding a startup?