US visa plan could aid business
FOREIGN entrepreneurs building new companies in the US could soon gain a new immigration option that would grant them temporary entry for up to five years, under a rule proposed on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.
The proposal, which does not require congressional approval, would allow immigration officials to admit entrepreneurs case by case. To qualify, an applicant must have an “active and central role”, and a significant ownership stake, in a US company founded in the last three years.
The move is one of many piecemeal efforts by the Obama administration to expand American immigration policies without action from Congress. Entrepreneurs in any industry would be eligible to apply, but the new rule would be especially significant for the technology field. Creating an immigration route for startup founders has been one of Silicon Valley’s political priorities.
“This is a big step in the right direction,” said Patrick Collison, an Irish immigrant and the chief executive of Stripe, a payment processing company based in San Francisco. More than half of American tech startups valued at $1 billion or more had at least one immigrant founder, according to a study by the National Foundation for American Policy, a research group that focuses on immigration issues.
Collison and his brother John started Stripe five years ago while attending colleges in Massachusetts. Dealing with the brothers’ visa issues was one of the biggest challenges Stripe had to overcome in its early days, Collison said. The company now has more than 500 employees, and Collison is part of a group of Silicon Valley executives and investors pressing for immigration reform.
Stricter limits on entry
President Barack Obama made it a signature policy issue, speaking frequently about the need for a path that would allow skilled entrepreneurs to build new companies and create jobs, but efforts to create a “startup visa” for foreign entrepreneurs have repeatedly died in Congress.
In 2014, Obama changed tactics, ordering federal officials to draft a plan for granting some entrepreneurs temporary immigration status.
The proposal put forth on Friday circumvents visas by relying on a federal law that lets the secretary of homeland security temporarily admit people whose entry into the US would create “significant public benefit”. Around 3,000 entrepreneurs a year may qualify, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Sophie Alcorn, an immigration lawyer in Mountain View, California, said the new rule, if adopted, could significantly ease the challenges faced by fledgling entrepreneurs, especially those who came to the United States to attend college and began working on a new venture.
Immigration has become a major flash point in this year’s presidential race, with the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, calling for stricter limits on entry and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, proposing automatic green cards for foreign students who earn advanced degrees in technical fields from US universities.
The Department of Homeland Security’s 155-page proposal will be open for public comment for 45 days. After that, the department can move forward with a final rule, which could take effect as soon as next year.