HR 1114 IHCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

112th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

1st SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

H. R. 1114CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To establish an employment-based immigrant visa for alien entrepreneurs who have received significant capital from investors to establish a business in the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

March 16, 2011CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the JudiciaryCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To establish an employment-based immigrant visa for alien entrepreneurs who have received significant capital from investors to establish a business in the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘StartUp Visa Act of 2011’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. STARTUP VISAS.

(a) In General- Section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 203(b)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(6) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) IN GENERAL- StartUp visas shall be made available, from the number of visas allocated under paragraph (5), to qualified immigrant entrepreneurs--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i)(I) who have proven that a qualified venture capitalist, a qualified super angel investor, or a qualified government entity, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, has invested not less than $100,000 on behalf of each such entrepreneur; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) whose commercial activities will, during the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the visa is issued under this subparagraph--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(aa) create not fewer than 5 new full-time jobs in the United States employing people other than the immigrant’s spouse, sons, or daughters;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(bb) raise not less than $500,000 in capital investment in furtherance of a commercial entity based in the United States; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(cc) generate not less than $500,000 in revenue;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii)(I) who--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(aa) hold an unexpired H1-B visa; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(bb) have completed a graduate level degree in science, technology, engineering, math, computer science, or other relevant academic discipline from an accredited United States college, university, or other institution of higher education;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) who demonstrate--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(aa) annual income of not less than 250 percent of the Federal poverty level; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(bb) the possession of assets equivalent to not less than 2 years of income at 250 percent of the Federal poverty level; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(III) who have proven that a qualified venture capitalist, a qualified super angel investor, or a qualified government entity, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, has invested not less than $20,000 on behalf of each such entrepreneur; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) who have a controlling interest in a foreign company--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) that has generated, during the most recent 12-month period, not less than $100,000 in revenue from sales in the United States; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) whose commercial activities, during the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the visa is issued under this subparagraph, will--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘(aa) create not fewer than 3 new full-time jobs in the United States that employ people other than the immigrant’s spouse, sons, or daughters;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘(bb) raise not less than $100,000 in capital investment in furtherance of a commercial entity based in the United States; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘(cc) generate not less than $100,000 in revenue.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘(B) REVOCATION- If the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the commercial activities of an alien who received a StartUp visa pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i)(II) fail to meet the requirements under such subparagraph, the Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the end of the applicable 2-year period described in such subparagraph--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) revoke such visa; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) notify the alien that he or she--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) may voluntarily depart from the United States in accordance to section 240B; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) will be subject to removal proceedings under section 240 if the alien does not depart from the United States not later than 6 months after receiving such notification.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) DEFINITIONS- In this paragraph:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) QUALIFIED SUPER ANGEL INVESTOR- The term ‘qualified super angel investor’ means an individual who--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) is an accredited investor (as defined in section 230.501(a) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations);CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) is a United States citizen; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(III) has made at least 2 equity investments of not less than $50,000 in each of the previous 3 years.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) QUALIFIED VENTURE CAPITALIST- The term ‘qualified venture capitalist’ means an entity that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) is classified as a ‘venture capital operating company’ under section 2510.3-101(d) of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) is based in the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(III) is comprised of partners, the majority of whom are United States citizens;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(IV) has capital commitments of not less than $10,000,000;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(V) has been operating for at least 2 years; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(VI) has made at least 2 investments of not less than $500,000 during each of the most recent 2 years.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Conditional Permanent Resident Status- Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by striking ‘Attorney General’ each place such term appears and inserting ‘Secretary of Homeland Security’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in subsection (a)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) by striking ‘(as defined in subsection (f)(1))’ and inserting ‘, sponsored entrepreneur’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) by striking ‘(as defined in subsection (f)(2)) shall’ and inserting ‘shall each’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘sponsored entrepreneur,’ after ‘alien entrepreneur,’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall terminate the permanent resident status of a sponsored entrepreneur and the alien spouse and children of such entrepreneur if the Secretary determines, not later than 3 years after the date on which such permanent resident status was conferred, that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) the qualified venture capitalist or qualified super angel investor who sponsored the entrepreneur failed to meet the investment requirements under section 203(b)(6)(A)(i); orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) the entrepreneur failed to meet the job creation, capital investment, or revenue generation requirements under section 203(b)(6)(A)(ii).’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) in subsection (c)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘sponsored entrepreneur,’ after ‘alien entrepreneur,’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) by striking ‘alien entrepreneur must’ each place such term appears and inserting ‘entrepreneur shall’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in paragraph (3)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting ‘or sponsored entrepreneur’ after ‘alien entrepreneur’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘sponsored entrepreneur,’ after ‘alien entrepreneur’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) in subsection (d)(1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘alien’ and inserting ‘alien entrepreneur or sponsored entrepreneur, as applicable’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in clause (i), by striking ‘invested, or is actively in the process of investing,’ and inserting ‘has invested, is actively in the process of investing, or has been sponsored by a qualified super angel investor or qualified venture capitalist who has invested,’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘or 203(b)(6), as applicable’ before the period at the end; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(4) The term ‘sponsored entrepreneur’ means an alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under section 203(b)(6).’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY.

(a) In General- Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to Congress on the StartUp Visa Program, authorized under section 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Contents- The report described in subsection (a) shall include information regarding--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) the number of immigrant entrepreneurs who have received a visa under the immigrant entrepreneurs program established under section 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, listed by country of origin;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) the localities in which such immigrant entrepreneurs have initially settled;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) whether such immigrant entrepreneurs generally remain in the localities in which they initially settle;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) the types of commercial enterprises that such immigrant entrepreneurs have established; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) the types and number of jobs created by such immigrant entrepreneurs.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink