Senate Introduces Start Up Visa Bill PDF Print E-mail
Monday, March 21 2011

Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Mark Udall (D-CO) reintroduced legislation to drive job creation and increase America’s global competiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States. Several NVCA members helped craft this legislation and we will work to gain co-sponsors for the bill in the Senate.

A similar bill crafted in the Senate in February 2010 would have granted permanent residency to any foreign-born entrepreneur whose new business attracted at least $100,000 in venture capital or angel backing out of a total $250,000 in equity financing, while creating five new jobs within two years. The StartUp Visa Act of 2011 is similar to last year’s bill, with a few modifications based on our input. Here are the highlights:

A StartUp Visa would be granted to a person who has proven:

  • That a qualified VC or super angel investor has invested not less than $100,000 on behalf of each entrepreneur,
  • and who can, after 2 years, show that they have created at least 5 new jobs,
  • and who can show that they have commitments for $500M in more VC/angel money or they have generated $500K in revenue.

A StartUp Visa would also be granted to a person who:

  • Holds an unexpired H1–B visa, or
  • has a graduate degree in STEM who can show they make at least $30K and have at least $60K in assets, and
  • a VC has said they will invest at least $25K in the entrepreneur.

After 2 years, the entrepreneur must show that he or she has created at least 3 new jobs and raised at least $125K or more. NVCA is pleased to see that the dollar amount that an entrepreneur has to raise in Lugar’s 2011 version is lowered from $1M to $500K. The bill also grants more avenues for a qualified foreign-born entrepreneur to obtain a visa besides simply raising money.

Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jared Polis (D-CO) plan to introduce companion legislation in the House in the coming weeks. NVCA has been working with Lofgren and Polis on their bill and we will see if these two bills can be merged together to best serve the interests of the start-up and entrepreneurial communities. In the coming weeks and months, if the Administration and Congressional leadership attempt to move immigration legislation we will reach out to the NVCA membership to help drive support for these initiatives.

 

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