Foreign entrepreneurs attempting to create new businesses in the US might soon be given a new option for immigration. This would allow temporary access to the country for up to five years. It comes as a new rule, proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, on Friday.
The new proposal would enable entrepreneurs’ admission to the US by immigration officials on a case-by-case basis, and it does not need the approval of Congress. To qualify, applicants need to have a significant ownership stake as well as a central and active role in a company, which was founded in the US over the course of the last three years.
The proposed rule is among several smaller efforts by the Obama administration, which try to expand the immigration policies of the US without the need to involve Congress. Entrepreneurs from any industry can apply, although those in the field of technology will find the new rule of particular significance. One of the biggest political priorities of Silicon Valley has been to create an immigration route that can be used by the founders of startup businesses.
Patrick Collinson, the chief executive of San Francisco payment processing company, Stripe, who is himself an immigrant, says that the new rule is a huge step in the right direction and that it will have a big impact on entrepreneurship in the US, and perhaps even on the wider economy.