Congress is currently considering a bill that would provide 75,000 visas to persons who currently hold H-1B or F-1 student visas who have started businesses with investment of at least $100,000 and that employ at least 2 other people within a year and at least five in the following three years.
The bill, the Immigration Innovation Act, received support from President Obama in his State of the Union speech.
My only problem with this visa program is that it doesn’t go far enough! Visas for 75,000 people who are already on H-1B or F-1 visas is great, but why would possibly want to keep out anyone who has at least $100k in investment, employs people and wants to help spur on our economic growth by creating new products and opening new markets?
Startup entrepreneurs from other countries have a number of options when applying for visa’s, such as E-2 investor visas, L-1 business transfer visas, and less commonly EB-5 and EB-2 visas. This new proposed visa allows person’s to extract themselves from the H-1B fiasco of being tied to en employer, among other benefits.
Want to let Congress know what you think about this legislation? StartupVisa is your spot to learn how to get involved.