Establishing a startup outside the sub Saharan is everybody’s dream. To make it easy for entrepreneurs who wish to move to America, The Obama Administration came up with Startup Visas.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the White House’s International Entrepreneur Rule, which offers temporary visas to startup founders from other countries if their companies meet certain requirements, like financing from U.S. investors.
Qualification
To qualify for “startup visas,” entrepreneurs must own at least 15 percent of a U.S. startup, and demonstrate the company’s growth potential, investments from qualified American investors, and “significant public benefit to the United States.”
The published rule allows entrepreneurs that fit the above mentioned requirements to stay in the U.S. for up to two years. They could then apply for an additional three years if the company shows continued growth and benefit to the American public.
White House Deputy Director of Tech and Innovation Tom Kalil and Doug Rand, Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship at the Office of Science and Tech Policy, wrote “Creating a startup visas for international entrepreneurs has always been a part of the President’s commonsense immigration reform principles, and was part of the bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013. And while there is no substitute for legislation, the Administration is taking the steps it can within existing legal authorities to fix as much of our broken immigration system as possible. The administrative reforms announced by the President in November 2014, if fully implemented, could boost the nation’s economic output by up to $250 billion, while shrinking the federal deficit by $65 billion over the next ten years.”
Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association, said, “today’s announcement is welcome news for the entrepreneurial ecosystem and we applaud the Obama Administration for keeping its foot on the gas of this important issue. Immigration reform has long been a focus of NVCA and we are glad to see our priorities on the issue woven into this proposal. Absent congressional action to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform, NVCA and the venture community will continue to support all measures that make it easier for foreign-born entrepreneurs to come to the U.S. to start and grow successful businesses. We look forward to digging in and reviewing all the details of the proposed rule and working with the administration in the coming weeks to iron out the finished product so that the rule best meets the stated goal of attracting the best and brightest entrepreneurs from around the world.”
