The International Entrepreneur Parole Program (IE) has been relaunched by United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). As we mentioned in an earlier post, the Biden Administration has relaunched the IE program for international entrepreneurs who have established their startups in the United States. The IE program allows international entrepreneurs, who otherwise do not meet other visa criteria, to be granted a period of authorized stay in the U.S. to grow their business. IE does not give immigration status to the approved applicants. Instead, qualifying applicants receive what is called “parole”, which is a temporary permission to enter and remain in the U.S for a specified period of time. The IE program does not provide a path to permanent residency.
Read moreUSCIS Relaunches the International Entrepreneur Parole Program
DHS Announces Continuation of International Entrepreneur Parole Program
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on May 10, 2021 that they are withdrawing a Trump-era 2018 notice of proposed rulemaking that would have removed the International Entrepreneur (IE) Parole Program from DHS regulations. This move by the DHS is yet another pro-immigration decision resulting from President Biden’s Executive Order 14012, “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans,” which directs the federal government to “develop welcoming strategies that promote integration, inclusion, and citizenship.”
The International Entrepreneur Parole Program (IE), created by the Obama administration in 2017 and suspended by the Trump administration just before the first eligible entrepreneurs could begin to submit applications, is meant help International entrepreneurs stay in the US to start and grow new companies. While the Trump administration tried to terminate the program, a federal court required US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2017 to begin accepting international entrepreneur parole applications consistent with the IE final rule. Since that time, USCIS has been accepting and adjudicating applications consistent with existing DHS regulations.
Read moreDangerous Game
CNBC: “The $4.8 trillion immigration issue that is being overlooked by Washington.”
Immigrant-owned businesses employ more than 19 million people and generate $4.8 trillion in revenue, according to the National Immigration Forum, figures that demonstrate the tremendous positive impact immigrants have on the US economy. Immigrants are important business creators, in addition to holding positions in the service, construction, and farming industries as well as in Silicon Valley. "This phenomenon is across all ethnicities and education levels," Dr. Kerr, a professor of entrepreneurship who has been tracking the topic for over ten years, says. "There are many reasons immigrants start more businesses. Among them: They tend to be more daring and less risk averse, considering they were brave enough to migrate here and tolerate change. Many come to the U.S. specifically to start a business. Others face discrimination in the job market and opt to become business owners."
Read moreUSCIS: “DHS Proposes to Remove the International Entrepreneur Rule”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a rule that would end the Obama-era International Entrepreneur Rule (IE Final Rule), which allows certain foreign entrepreneurs to be considered for parole to come temporarily to the US to develop and build companies. To qualify, entrepreneurs must demonstrate that they would provide a significant public benefit with rapid job growth and creation by submitting substantial evidence including proof of significant capital investment from US investors with established records of successful investments, or if they have obtained significant awards or grants from specific federal, state, or local governments. The parole would provide these entrepreneurs temporary stay of up to thirty months, with the option to extend an additional thirty months, so that the entrepreneur can oversee the company’s growth in the US.
Read moreOPINION: How the Immigration Landscape Changed in 2017
When Donald Trump won the election, many immigrants and their advocates feared the worst. Now that President Trump has been in office for over a year, I wish I could write that everyone’s fears were overblown, but that simply isn’t true. The administration’s actions have met and in some cases exceeded the worst fears of many immigrants and immigration practitioners.
Read moreNY Times: “In Blow to Tech Industry, Trump Shelves Start-Up Immigrant Rule”
The Trump administration announced yesterday that it would delay, and likely eliminate, a federal rule announced by former President Obama that would have let foreign entrepreneurs come to the United States to start companies. The decision, which will be officially published by the federal government today, was quickly criticized by key business and technology leaders. “Today’s announcement is extremely disappointing and represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the critical role immigrant entrepreneurs play in growing the next generation of American companies,” Bobby Franklin, the president and chief executive of the National Venture Capital Association, a trade association for start-up investors, says in a statement. He notes that while other countries are doing whatever they can to attract entrepreneurs, “the Trump administration is signaling its intent to do the exact opposite.”
Read moreVisa Options for Entrepreneurs
Sometimes US immigration law doesn’t provide clear visa options for people looking to work in America. These individuals are daunted by the process, and as attorneys we often feel like we are trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. But at other times, thankfully, there is more than one option for a client and so it’s our job to talk them through the choices to see which is the overall best fit. This can happen, in particular, with some entrepreneurs who are interested in opening up their own business in the US.
Read moreUSCIS Proposes Rule to Welcome International Entrepreneurs
The United States has long been the land of opportunity and that has been particularly true for the world’s brightest business minds. Indeed, studies show that “more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.” Entrepreneurs may not fit easily in nonimmigrant visa categories, but there may be a better option soon. Last week, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new International Entrepreneur Rule, “which would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the United States)” in order to start or scale a business in the US. The rule has been sent to the Federal Register, and once posted, the public will have forty-five days to submit comments. “America’s economy has long benefited from the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs, from Main Street to Silicon Valley,” USCIS Director León Rodríguez says in the announcement. “This proposed rule, when finalized, will help our economy grow by expanding immigration options for foreign entrepreneurs who meet certain criteria for creating jobs, attracting investment and generating revenue in the U.S.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), pursuant to Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5), has the authority to parole individuals in the United States “on a case-by-case basis, for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” In its new rule, USCIS proposes to “amend its regulations implementing this authority to increase and enhance entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation in the United States.” The proposed International Entrepreneur Rule would grant parole to entrepreneurs with “startup entities whose stay in the United States would provide a significant public benefit through the substantial and demonstrated potential for rapid business growth and job creation.” The parole would first be granted for a period of two years and a subsequent re-parole may be granted for an additional three years, only if “the entrepreneur and the startup entity continue to provide a significant public benefit as evidenced by substantial increases in capital investment, revenue or job creation.” Eligible entrepreneurs include those:
- Who have a significant ownership interest in the startup (at least fifteen percent) and have an active and central role to its operations;
- Whose startup was formed in the United States within the past three years; and
- Whose startup has substantial and demonstrated potential for rapid business growth and job creation, as evidenced by:
- Receiving significant investment of capital (at least $345,000) from certain qualified US investors with established records of successful investments;
- Receiving significant awards or grants (at least $100,000) from certain federal, state or local government entities; or
- Partially satisfying one or both of the above criteria in addition to other reliable and compelling evidence of the startup entity’s substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation.
While he may be leaving office soon, President Obama has long been an advocate for bringing entrepreneurs around the world to the US. In 2012, he launched Entrepreneur Pathways, a website aimed at assisting immigrant entrepreneurs in their goal of building new businesses in the US. This new International Entrepreneurs Rule would continue President Obama’s mission in bringing the best and brightest to the US and creating new jobs for Americans.