A Case For The Startup Visa Act
The Startup Visa Could Be America’s Most Impactful Immigrant Visa Category If Congress Gives It Life
When I first heard about the startup visa act back in 2010, I was certain that the bill would be approved by congress with great alacrity. For me it was a no brainer, it meant more American jobs, more taxes for the US government etc. I was incredibly surprised when congress just let the bill expire twice without necessarily giving it any serious consideration.
Just to lay a foundation for anyone reading this, the proposed legislation would provide visas to foreign born entrepreneurs under the following conditions:
- Entrepreneurs living outside the U.S — If a U.S investor agrees to financially sponsor their entrepreneurial venture with a minimum investment of $100,000. Two years later, the startup must have created five new American jobs and either have raised over $500,000 in financing or be generating more than $500,000 in yearly revenue.
- Workers on an H-1B visa, or graduates from U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or computer science— If they have an annual income of at least $30,000 or assets of at least $60,000 and have had a U.S. investor commit investment of at least $20,000 in their venture. Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have raised over $100,000 in financing or be generating more than $100,000 in yearly revenue.
- Foreign entrepreneurs whose business has generated at least $100,000 in sales from the U.S — Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have raised over $100,000 in financing or be generating more than $100,000 in yearly revenue.
All 3 categorizations have clear stipulations that a number of American jobs must be created within a clearly defined timeframe. The additional requirement that the entrepreneur either raises a predefined amount of financing from accredited American investors or generates revenues above a certain minimum threshold within the stipulated timeframe helps filter out quack companies and ultimately curbs an obvious concern that many illegal immigrant might move to register companies that do not add any value to the American economy and subsequently apply for the startup visa.
A recent 43 page report from the Partnership for a New American Economy outlined the contributions that immigrant entrepreneurs have made to the American economy over the last century. I have extracted the key points made in the report below.
More than 40 percent of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.
Even though immigrants have made up only 10.5 percent of the American population on average since 1850, there are 90 immigrant-founded Fortune 500 companies, accounting for 18 percent of the list. When you include the additional 114 companies founded by the children of immigrants, the share of the Fortune 500 list grows to over 40 percent.
The newest Fortune 500 companies are more likely to have an immigrant founder.
Just shy of 20 percent of the newest Fortune 500 companies — those founded over the 25-year period between 1985 and 2010 — have an immigrant founder.
Fortune 500 companies founded by immigrants or children of immigrants employ more than 10 million people worldwide.
Immigrant-founded Fortune 500 companies alone employ more than 3.6 million people, a figure equivalent to the entire population of Connecticut.
The revenue generated by Fortune 500 companies founded by immigrants or children of immigrants is greater than the GDP of every country in the world outside the U.S., except China and Japan.
The Fortune 500 companies that boast immigrant or children-of-immigrant founders have combined revenues of $4.2 trillion. $1.7 trillion of that amount comes just from the companies founded by immigrants.
Seven of the 10 most valuable brands in the world come from American companies founded by immigrants or children of immigrants.
Many of America’s greatest brands — Apple, Google, AT&T, Budweiser, Colgate, eBay, General Electric, IBM, and McDonald’s, to name just a few — owe their origin to a founder who was an immigrant or the child of an immigrant.
Americans worry about foreigners coming to take away American jobs, but while existing visa categories like the Diversity Immigrant Visa (55,000 of which are allocated via a lottery as opposed to via selective filtering of qualified candidates) and the H1B take away America jobs for the most part, the Startup Visa aims to do the opposite and help create jobs and foster creativity and entrepreneurship and could provide a much needed stimulant for the American economy.
The Canadian government already understands the value that foreign born entrepreneurs can bring to their country, so much so that their Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, recently made a trip to Silicon Valley to promote Canada’s new startup visa.
Visit the Startup Visa website to learn how you can get involved today.
You can follow me on twitter to see more of my future posts @iamtikue
