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USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

uscis.gov

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Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#41

Post by tostitos1979 »

I wish having an advanced degree was a criteria here. A few years ago, I noticed that Britain would give a blanket visa to anyone with an MBA from a list of top international schools. How about something like that for people with Masters/PhDs (in STEM) from top-50 schools in the world.

That said, the proposed rule might mean if one gets into YC/techstars, etc. they would be able to get a visa for the US easily.

The limited term and renewals do raise some flags. But I guess if you are successful with your startup in the given time period, you can apply for a green card through other categories like Extraordinary Ability, etc.

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#42

Post by tostitos1979 »

witty_username wrote: post #31
gjkood wrote: post #23

If you are a hardware entrepreneur there may be better options than trying to set up in the USA. Try setting up shop in Shenzhen, China. Just spent a week over there. It is truly a Hacker's Paradise. You can validate your ideas and get an MVP out in much faster time than the USA. You can be close to your eventual supply chain when you do make it big. It may sound a bit like premature optimization but the advantages a…

Related: In some documentary of some Chinese factory on Youtube, they showed an employee bicycling to a supplier to get more parts.

I think in the documentary you refer to, the supplier and user were part of the same company. Upaa I think? They basically had a huge campus. I was also impressed by that documentary but just saying ...

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#43

Post by a13n »

vthallam wrote: post #37

A great start for sure. >Receiving significant investment of capital (at least $345,000) from certain qualified U.S. investors with established records of successful investments Not sure what does the qualified US investors mean though. Would seed funding/angel funding from individuals not be considered for this? I guess this has been added to avoid abuse by wealthy foreigners, but how do they determine the qualified…

I would guess you have to be an accredited investor and have some history investing in startups.

Accredited Investor:

- net worth, or joint net worth with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million or

- income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#44

Post by gjkood »

toephu2 wrote: post #32
gjkood wrote: post #23

If you are a hardware entrepreneur there may be better options than trying to set up in the USA. Try setting up shop in Shenzhen, China. Just spent a week over there. It is truly a Hacker's Paradise. You can validate your ideas and get an MVP out in much faster time than the USA. You can be close to your eventual supply chain when you do make it big. It may sound a bit like premature optimization but the advantages a…

And let me guess, you went over on a 30-day (or 60 or 90 max) tourist visa? Try getting a Chinese work visa from a startup (or one you found). USCIS's new rule proposal allows entrepreneurs to stay legally in the U.S. an initial 2 years.

I am not implying it is the best option for everybody trying to come and set up in the US, but for hardware companies there are better options than the US. In fact there are US based hardware accelerators[1] that encourage and facilitate setting up in Shenzhen for a short while so that you can be close to your eventual supply chain.

Coming and setting up in the US is no easy matter for people of Indian or Chinese origins.

1. https://hax.co

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#45

Post by seanmcdirmid »

gjkood wrote: post #44
toephu2 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And let me guess, you went over on a 30-day (or 60 or 90 max) tourist visa? Try getting a Chinese work visa from a startup (or one you found). USCIS's new rule proposal allows entrepreneurs to stay legally in the U.S. an initial 2 years.

I am not implying it is the best option for everybody trying to come and set up in the US, but for hardware companies there are better options than the US. In fact there are US based hardware accelerators[1] that encourage and facilitate setting up in Shenzhen for a short while so that you can be close to your eventual supply chain. Coming and setting up in the US is no easy matter for people of Indian or Chinese ori…

Is setting up in she Shenzhen any easier for foreigners? I wouldn't be surprised if it was harder.

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#46

Post by dineshp2 »

tostitos1979 wrote: post #41

I wish having an advanced degree was a criteria here. A few years ago, I noticed that Britain would give a blanket visa to anyone with an MBA from a list of top international schools. How about something like that for people with Masters/PhDs (in STEM) from top-50 schools in the world. That said, the proposed rule might mean if one gets into YC/techstars, etc. they would be able to get a visa for the US easily. The l…

> I wish having an advanced degree was a criteria here. A few years ago, I noticed that Britain would give a blanket visa to anyone with an MBA from a list of top international schools.

Care to explain the reasoning? It seems shortsighted to limit this proposal to people with advanced degrees, and why only from the top 50 schools in the world? How does this make sense in the context of startups?

> That said, the proposed rule might mean if one gets into YC/techstars, etc. they would be able to get a visa for the US easily.

The article mentions that this is not a visa, but parole. And with the requirement of $345K in funding, getting into YC/Techstars would not be sufficient. Startups would need to raise additional money, unless they receive $100k from the Government.

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#47

Post by tlb »

vesh wrote: post #25
skynetv2 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are right and that was probably intentional. if not, there would be no way to determine if a startup is legitimate or not. attracting investment or funding seems to be the determining factor in this process.

What about using growth, revenue and profitability as a factor? Wouldn't that provide a similar data point to make the decision.

If you have growth and revenue, it should be easy to get investors to invest. By outsourcing their decision, the government doesn't have to understand how to benchmark growth or revenue in every kind of business.

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#49

Post by _delirium »

vthallam wrote: post #37

A great start for sure. >Receiving significant investment of capital (at least $345,000) from certain qualified U.S. investors with established records of successful investments Not sure what does the qualified US investors mean though. Would seed funding/angel funding from individuals not be considered for this? I guess this has been added to avoid abuse by wealthy foreigners, but how do they determine the qualified…

I don't think it's necessarily targeted at abuse from wealthy foreigners, at least if you mean the kind wealthy enough to be putting up the whole investment themselves. There are other ways a wealthy foreigner can get a visa, like through the investor visa route. I would guess it's targeted more at visa-selling via sham investors. Something like, you charge a person $50k as a fee to "invest" $500k in their "startup", but structure it in such a way that they never actually see the money, or it comes back to you via some backdoor. Restricting it to legitimate investors who have some kind of track record probably makes it easier to police; they're less likely to running brazenly illegal schemes in the first place (gray-area stuff maybe, but probably not flat-out visa selling), and have more to lose from misusing their name/reputation.

Re: USCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs

#50

Post by r00fus »

drl42 wrote: post #13

Summary: - New startup entity ( After 2 years, 3 years extension - Atleast 10% ownership and active role in startup - Atleast $500K additional funding OR $500K revenue with 20% growth OR 10 Full time Jobs 0

Spousal Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is huge. IIRC, H1B spouses (ie, H4Bs) were recently allowed, but only if the H1B holder is applying for legal residency - which can take a while.

In this case, you can get an EAD for your spouse as soon as you get your parole.

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