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What the startup visa should really look like

eliasbizannes.com

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Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#11

Post by eshvk »

thinkisgood wrote: post #8

I'm all for opening up the US and allowing more immigrants in. With the author's solution, who determines what is and what is not a start up? If I start a restaurant, am I not a start up? What if I start a cleaning service, a landscaping company, etc?

I am confused: Is there a reason why those _shouldn't_ be startups? If there is a reasonably baseline of jobs, $J being created in a certain reasonably timeframe, $T, with a certain amount of equity, $D being generated. Why should the U.S. government have an issue with how cool or fancy your startup is?

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#12

Post by thinkisgood »

eshvk wrote: post #11
thinkisgood wrote: post #8

I'm all for opening up the US and allowing more immigrants in. With the author's solution, who determines what is and what is not a start up? If I start a restaurant, am I not a start up? What if I start a cleaning service, a landscaping company, etc?

I am confused: Is there a reason why those _shouldn't_ be startups? If there is a reasonably baseline of jobs, $J being created in a certain reasonably timeframe, $T, with a certain amount of equity, $D being generated. Why should the U.S. government have an issue with how cool or fancy your startup is?

They should be. The problem is that there are very little barriers to entry to these start ups and as such, pretty much anyone can start one and have a visa.

The problem with setting benchmarks are where do you set them? There is already a program know as the EB-5 program that requires you to invest $1MM ($500k in economic development zones) and create 10 jobs and after 3-4 years you can get a green card.

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#13

Post by eshvk »

thinkisgood wrote: post #12
eshvk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused: Is there a reason why those _shouldn't_ be startups? If there is a reasonably baseline of jobs, $J being created in a certain reasonably timeframe, $T, with a certain amount of equity, $D being generated. Why should the U.S. government have an issue with how cool or fancy your startup is?

They should be. The problem is that there are very little barriers to entry to these start ups and as such, pretty much anyone can start one and have a visa. The problem with setting benchmarks are where do you set them? There is already a program know as the EB-5 program that requires you to invest $1MM ($500k in economic development zones) and create 10 jobs and after 3-4 years you can get a green card.

I don't have a say in this matter but wouldn't this be a possible solution to the illegal immigrant issue? If they are in the process of creating jobs for U.S. citizens or allege that they can, give them a visa or "legalize them". If at any time they become a public charge or it turns out that they have not achieved their objectives within the reasonable time frame given, revoke the visa? Presumably this can be a one time thing only.

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#14

Post by thinkisgood »

eshvk wrote: post #10
thinkisgood wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US does offer a program like this, which the author referred to, and is the EB-5 program. It requires you to invest $1MM in the US and create 10 jobs ($500k and 10 jobs in economic development zones). You can go from a visa to a green card within 3-4 years after proving your investment and the creating of 10 jobs.

I just read up on this. It works if you have that much capital at the start but what if you don't? What is the alternative for say people, who are fresh out of school and have a bunch of ideas and might in 3-4 years time create value and jobs worth that number or even twice it.

Anyone can say they have an idea that will create 1,000 jobs in 3-4 years. How do you pick the ones that actually will?

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#15

Post by eshvk »

thinkisgood wrote: post #14
eshvk wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just read up on this. It works if you have that much capital at the start but what if you don't? What is the alternative for say people, who are fresh out of school and have a bunch of ideas and might in 3-4 years time create value and jobs worth that number or even twice it.

Anyone can say they have an idea that will create 1,000 jobs in 3-4 years. How do you pick the ones that actually will?

It would be great to be able to identify the features necessary for successful entrepreneurship. However, defining "tenacity" and "scrappiness" (and other latent variables) in a binary fashion acceptable to a bureaucrat are difficult. In its absence, use something like the YC approach (interview by experts) to determine the success of an idea? If 1 out of every 100 people succeed, you have 1000 jobs for U.S. citizens.

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#16

Post by sharth »

isalmon wrote: post #3
marquis wrote: post #2

What is so important to actually relocate to the U.S. rather than any other country, or stay where you are? (if you are lucky to be somewhere that's safe and respectful to your way of life). I travel to and partner with the U.S. as a core part of my work but it's never been something I considered to actually permanently move there - you can open a business and a bank account remotely, run your S corp* etc. Is it beca…

You can't own an S corp unless you're a US resident (citizen or GC holder).

Why does the company even need to be registered in the USA?

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#19

Post by hpatel »

marquis wrote: post #2

What is so important to actually relocate to the U.S. rather than any other country, or stay where you are? (if you are lucky to be somewhere that's safe and respectful to your way of life). I travel to and partner with the U.S. as a core part of my work but it's never been something I considered to actually permanently move there - you can open a business and a bank account remotely, run your S corp* etc. Is it beca…

Given that this discussion is about US immigration, it makes sense to discuss cases where capital needs to be raised(if comparing to OECD countries) or there is a significant advantage to relocating to US(if comparing to non-OECD countries).

One of the main premises is that innovation is stifled because employees in the position to innovate are chained to their jobs via the H1 visa in their prime years.

Re: What the startup visa should really look like

#20

Post by cletus »

I'm glad the author mentioned the disparity between work visas and immigration and visas for the "arts" (fashion models, actors, etc), which seem to be trivial to get. I don't understand that at all.

I will say that the last thing a startup visa program needs is discretionary government oversight. That has disaster written all over it.

My opinion is this: you should be able to come to the US and "pay your way". By this I mean demonstrate that a) you can support yourself and b) you are paying for things like health insurance. There probably needs to be a package for (b) such that, from the perspective of the government, you aren't "freeloading".

It should be up to each state to determine what that means. If you reside in NYC perhaps you need $30,000 to support yourself. In Iowa? Maybe $10,000 will do.

While residing in the US on such a visa you can't take a job (you need a visa for that) but you can start a business. This is where it gets tricky because you don't necessarily want to open the floodgates for people who are in de facto employment through a small business.

The packaged health (and other) costs and keeping sufficient funds to support yourself should ameliorate that possibility.

As long as people are willing to pay to reside in the US and work on their big idea, why not let them?

At some point if your company gets funded or you have sufficient revenue and/or employees, you can convert to the appropriate immigration status.

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