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Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

sfchronicle.com

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Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#51
post #23
post #15

From the article: "To qualify for the rule, entrepreneurs would have to meet high standards. A foreigner must demonstrate that he or she will contribute to economic growth or job creation and show that a reputable investor has put at least $250,000 into the company. Under this rule, they can stay in the U.S. for 30 months, with the possibility of a 30-month extension. They cannot apply for a green card during this pe…

I only wondered why US will not open up to the countries, that are known for being safe, with well educated and easy to integrate citizens. US is opening its borders to rich countries instead of opening to safe bets to grab some tech talent. There are numerous countries that fit this profile. The majority of Central/Eastern Europe, few Asian and South American countries, even with Africa having some. Instead, they ex…

A segment of republicans like high skill immigration

Democrats like all immigration, refuse to go ahead with high skill only immigration reform unless republican compromise

The end result is deadlock.

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#52
post #11

'Startup visa' is one term for it, 'buy-a-visa' is another. I'm not sure that it's necessarily a bad idea; someone with vision and money may be able to contribute a lot to the economy. But handing them a visa for cash and a couple of years of supplying jobs feels very transactional. It says, "you can come here as long as you earn lots of money," not, "you can come here as long as you contribute lots to the economy."

There's a similar visa in South Korea, the D-8 visa, which requires you to invest 50M Won (roughly 50,000 USD), either in some business or to open another business, and some people have gotten frustrated that some have just invested for the visa and never done anything further as the government doesn't track beyond the initial investment. In this, and in the US case, the government should track to make sure it's not…

"people who just have a lot of money and want to live in the country"

What exactly is big problem with this?

Not speaking about becoming tax-resident of Monaco or similar, but your example or an EU country where you can open LLC and set up your own business and sort out residency paperwork in couple of years, for about that sum (5-figure USD/EUR) at the end benefits to the country budget and society.

Speaking from personal experience, and let me tell you we make sure we perform 100% of what government expects from us and pay everything that's due.

Also, in case of IT and startups, I feel it creates "cleaner" work environment and more positive and prospective work force than some other businesses (real-estate, natural resources, etc.)

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#53
post #8

Are they going to scrap the EB-5 visa too? Doesn't it basically sell citizenship for real estate?

"Invest $500,000 and immigrate to the United States." - Kushner Companies. [In a Beijing ballroom, Kushner family pushes $500,000 ‘investor visa’ to wealthy Chinese] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-a-beijing-ballroom-k...

Actually people with $500k are hardly considered wealthy in Beijing. A typical 100 m^2 flat within 4th ring road worth well over $1M. EB5 seems so easy here...

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#54
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes that idea difficult is the fact that profits have become decoupled from contribution to society. Anymore, most corporate gains aren't being passed along to the workers, just to the owners. Granted, the equation shifts with small businesses compared to large ones, but the idea that business = improvement is a bit simplistic.

I'd rather have well off individuals entering this country with means to spend and support our middle class.

Tricle-down economics doesn't work. The only people who get empowered to get richer when rich people get rich, are the rich people themselves.

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#55

Vancouver, anyone? I live in Seattle and I'm about ready to drive two hours north for my next startup. To hire the Russian programmers I'm already working with, or the folks on Kaggle I'd love to hire. The US has a completely broken scheme for visas.

Last time I checked, Canada is still much stricter when it comes to work visas than the US, though I suppose much less of their capacity is getting eaten up by Infosys-like operations.

It depends on the work category, salary level, and the province. Canada is making a real effort to lead in AI and that helps.

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They cannot apply for a green card during this period This will be a deal-breaker for over 95% of the applicants. Even though the H1B Visa is a non-immigrant visa, there was no such clause attached to it like this one. It's what enables 1000s of immigrants (like me) every year to first arrive on a non-immigrant visa and then get the employer to petition their green cards for permanent stay or eventually citizenship…

Damn. We might actually have to start investing equally in US children of all socioeconomic classes to ensure we have enough entrepreneurs and bright minds to compete in the global economy. EDIT: WOW, didn't think such an obvious comment would be so controversial (points are swinging up and down cyclically). Do ya'll think we are extremely efficient at turning potential into value from all of our current citizens? Do…

That's a solid upvote from me. But then again I had the good luck to be born in Norway, a country where education, health care and all is truly an equal opportunity (ie disregarding family wealth) prospect.

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#58

Vancouver, anyone? I live in Seattle and I'm about ready to drive two hours north for my next startup. To hire the Russian programmers I'm already working with, or the folks on Kaggle I'd love to hire. The US has a completely broken scheme for visas.

That's just trading one problem for another. Vancouver has a very serious affordability problem. Not only are you going to be paying a lot more for office and living space, you're going to have far fewer opportunities for funding.

[deleted]

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How disgusting.

Care to elaborate? As a patriot I think it is more disgusting to have no consideration for my fellow countrymen.

How on earth does "IQ testing" and "consideration to fellow countrymen" even relate? I cannot fathom the connection.

Re: Trump administration has plan to scrap ‘startup visa’ rule

#60
post #15

From the article: "To qualify for the rule, entrepreneurs would have to meet high standards. A foreigner must demonstrate that he or she will contribute to economic growth or job creation and show that a reputable investor has put at least $250,000 into the company. Under this rule, they can stay in the U.S. for 30 months, with the possibility of a 30-month extension. They cannot apply for a green card during this pe…

I wonder what the cost of the government bureaucracy which evaluates that criteria will be.
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