With comprehensive immigration reform nowhere to be seen, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday introduced a series of policy tweaks designed to attract and retain immigrant entrepreneurs who would otherwise have trouble getting a visa or staying in the United States.
The changes are based on a reinterpretation of existing policy, so the administration does not need Congressional approval for the adjustments.
Nonetheless, the the policy shift is real: non-citizen founders of U.S. companies, foreigners with special skills, and foreign investors all can expect a smoother process.
Immigration policy for the skilled and well-educated is an area of intense interest in Silicon Valley, where both established firms and start-ups compete to keep top talent in their bullpens — and in the United States.
For investors seeking visas, the process is streamlined and processing times should shorten. More significant changes come in another class of employment-based visas reserved for advanced degree holders or those with “exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business.”
Visas for these talented or well-qualified applicants have been contingent on a cumbersome employment verification process. The clarified policies play up an existing “national interest waiver” option for those who can demonstrate that their business endeavors are in the U.S. interest.
Sole owners of U.S. companies, including some startup founders, also benefit from the clarifications. The new interpretation makes it clear that owners can qualify as employed by their companies in order to obtain another type of visa, the temporary H-1B.
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO.), who sponsored a house version of legislation that would give visas to startup founders in 2009, applauded DHS’ move.
“Given that more than half of Silicon Valley startups were founded or co-founded by immigrants, and that immigrant-focused companies created $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005, this decision has tremendous job-creating potential,” Polis said in an e-mailed statement to TPM.
DHS’ administrative changes, though hailed as significant, are not enough to satisfy some more ambitious reformers. Writing in The Washington Post, tech entrepreneur and researcher Vivek Wadhwa said this week’s changes could produce “thousands of start-ups generating tens of thousands of jobs in the next couple of years.”
But Wadhwa, a researcher at Harvard Law School and Duke University, argued that another great opportunity lies in expediting permanent residency applications for one million skilled workers already in the country.
This, however, would require help from Congress.
Nevertheless, DHS’s tweak did please some.
“This is a huge step in the right direction,” wrote entrepreneur Manu Kumar on the White House blog recently.
Kumar is co-founder of Startup Visa, an effort to allow startup founders to stay with their companies.
The focus of the Startup Visa effort is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa, which is currently available to those investing at least $1 million ($500,000 in certain areas) in firms that create jobs. The group is pushing the Startup Visa Act, which would make founders of job-creating firms eligible for a similar visa, but would not require those levels of investment.
Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Mark Udall (D-CO), have introduced a Senate bill, but it’s not clear whether the legislation has any traction.
Graham Webster is a journalist, consultant, and researcher working on technology and politics in China and the United States. Now based in New York, he has lived and worked in Beijing, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. Follow him on Twitter.
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