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Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

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Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#12
Well, there were naysayers saying Vivek was just saying this to keep himself in the news and what he writes is useless, he keeps repeating the same thing etc. etc. and got some nice upvoting on here too. Interesting what their take on this would be.

See these two threads.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2294552

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2294385

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#13
I'm an Indian entrepreneur, and much as I'd love to see #3 see the light of day, I have this sinking feeling it's just way too ripe for exploitation.

Foreign entrepreneurs whose business has generated at least $100,000 in sales from the U.S. Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have raised over $100,000 in financing or be generating more than $100,000 in yearly revenue.

A ton of companies that aren't really startups could easily misuse this clause. And even if there's fine print to guard against the same, due diligence in each case will translate into a ton of paperwork and enormous bureaucratic delays, which is exactly what we're trying to avoid in the first place, right?

That said, no one hopes I'm wrong more than I do right now.

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#15
When asked six weeks ago whether the Yuri Milner / SV Angel offers would affect which startups YC accepts, pg said "No, of course not."

I would imagine that, if this legislation does pass, it might change his answer to that question, as all of a sudden that extra $150k becomes the difference between foreigners being able to get a Startup Visa to be accepted into YC or not.

If you read this Paul, care to share any updated thoughts on how this legislation and the $150k offer will/won't impact who you can accept to YC, and possibly who will apply to YC?

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#16
post #3

All I can say is I find category 2 - Workers on an H-1B visa, or graduates from U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or computer science—if they have an annual income of at least $30,000 or assets of at least $60,000 and have had a U.S. investor commit investment of at least $20,000 in their venture. Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have…

Droolworthy indeed! This point completely took me by surprise. For so many of us stuck in immigration limbo, this should make taking a leap well within reach. I was always of the opinion that there are thousands of talented could-be-entrepreneurs (grad students et al) in our own backyard who have no way to start a company. There had to be a way to make it easy for them, without reliance on employer visas and green ca…

Maybe they should try to get rid of immigration limbo.

The quota numbers are laughable and the rule that no country should get more than 7% per year is even worse. See Employment based section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_residence_(United_Sta...

Since pending immigrants can't vote, I guess no one cares.

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#17
I've been _soooo_ frustrated by this, running http://www.hackersandfounders.com . I can't tell you how many amazing entrepreneurs I've seen come into the area, and then have to leave because of visa issues. So, even though I'm way oversubscribed right, now, I'm burning a bit of bandwidth on the startup visa movement.

Votizen (I have no attachment other than knowing the founders) is coming up with a crazy cool platform to mobilize people about this issue.

Just text "startupvisa" to 894546. They've build a hella cool twilio app, that texts you back, verifies that you are a registered voter in the US. If you are, they_print_out_your_text_message and hand carry it to your senators and representative in congress.

It's friggin genius. Please, pass the word.

Hell. I'll start another thread specifically for this. If you are a voting US citizen: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2324232

If you are a foreign entrepreneur who wants to get a visa to the US, please help us promote this issue, so you can get a visa.

Craig Montuori set up a tumblr to tell stories of Entrepreneurs that haven't been able to start companies in the US because of visa issues. Contact him at http://startupvisa.tumblr.com/, or cmontuori@gmail.com .

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Droolworthy indeed! This point completely took me by surprise. For so many of us stuck in immigration limbo, this should make taking a leap well within reach. I was always of the opinion that there are thousands of talented could-be-entrepreneurs (grad students et al) in our own backyard who have no way to start a company. There had to be a way to make it easy for them, without reliance on employer visas and green ca…

Maybe they should try to get rid of immigration limbo. The quota numbers are laughable and the rule that no country should get more than 7% per year is even worse. See Employment based section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_residence_(United_Sta... Since pending immigrants can't vote, I guess no one cares.

Yes, of course. That is the root of the problem. This bill is a good effort to augment legal immigration reform.

Re: Finally, a Startup Visa That Works

#20
post #9

A senator takes blogger's opinion into account and revises the legislation? That's how a democracy should work. I'm really impressed (and the revised conditions seem very reasonable, too).

Bob Litan of Kauffman has been pushing hard for the changes, and Kauffman has the connections to affect the policy. I imagine that had a lot to do with it, too.
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