- March 26, 2010
- Category: Entrepreneur, Immigration Law, Non immigrant visa
On 2/24/2010, Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lugar (R-IN) announced the introduction of legislation aimed at driving job creation and increasing America’s global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States.
The bill, titled the StartUp Visa Act of 2010, will allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two year visa if they can show that a qualified U.S. investor is willing to dedicate a significant sum – a minimum of $250,000 – to the immigrant’s startup venture.
The StartUp Visa Act of 2010 would also amend immigration law to create a new EB-6 category for immigrant entrepreneurs, drawing from existing visas under the EB-5 category, which permits foreign nationals who invest at least $1 million into the U.S., and thereby create ten jobs, to obtain a green card. After proving that he or she has secured initial investment capital and if, after two years, the immigrant entrepreneur can show that he or she has generated at least five full-time jobs in the United States, attracted $1 million in additional investment capital or achieved $1 million in revenue, then he or she would receive permanent legal resident status.
Do we not want foreign entrepreneurs? With a struggling economy, I would imagine that such a class of people would prove very valuable. If investors have already committed to funding these entrepreneurs, the government should make every effort to accommodate them. These companies will then hire U.S. citizens and spend money here in the United States. Here is a link to an article on the StartUp Visa Act.
The author describes a situation where two Slovenians had started a company in Slovenia, and secured seed funding to expand their business. They were apparently only qualified for a business tourist visa. They had to ultimately wait outside the country while they secured a more permanent visa. But, if this visa had been available at that time, they could have applied for it. Instead, they had to wait outside the country and, at that time, their presence in the U.S. was critical for their company.