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The Startup Visa Act of 2011

Guest post by: Brad Feld

Article Overview: Today Senators Kerry (D-MA), Lugar (R-IN) and Udall (D-CO) unveiled the Startup Visa Act of 2011. This is an updated version of the Startup Visa bill from last year that is aimed at making it much easier for foreign entrepreneurs who want to start a company in the US to get a visa. Today, this process is incredibly difficult and has been stifling the creation of new companies and the corresponding job creation that these companies provide.

The Startup Visa Act of 2011

Today Senators Kerry (D-MA), Lugar (R-IN) and Udall (D-CO) unveiled the Startup Visa Act of 2011. This is an updated version of the Startup Visa bill from last year that is aimed at making it much easier for foreign entrepreneurs who want to start a company in the US to get a visa. Today, this process is incredibly difficult and has been stifling the creation of new companies and the corresponding job creation that these companies provide. The Startup Visa Act of 2011 has several significant improvements over last years bill.

- Lowered, More Realistic Thresholds: The minimum investment has be lowered to $100,000. This is more in line with a larger number of startup companies.

- Broadened Qualifications to Include H-1B or Students with Advanced Degrees: Entrepreneurs already in the US on an unexpired H-1B or those who have completed a graduate level degree in science, technology, engineering, math, computer science are eligible to apply as long as they have either an annual income of $30,000 or assets of at least $60,000 and a qualified US investor has agreed to invest at least $20,000. This opens up the Startup Visa to students after they graduate, which is a huge thing.

- Entrepreneurs Who Want to Relocate: Entrepreneurs who's companies are based outside the US can now relocate as long as their businesses have generated at least $100,000 in sales in the US.

I'm particularly excited about the broadened qualifications. I think every student that graduates with an advanced STEM or computer science degree should have a green card stapled to his or her diploma. It makes no sense to me that we'd make it difficult for the best and the brightest to stay in the US if they want. While this doesn't go that far, at least it's now easy for them to stay in the US and start a company if they want.

If you are a supporter of the Startup Visa, go to the Startup Visa web site and send a message to Congress about this right now!

Read this article in Brad's blog.

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Article Tags: dco, dma, job creation, kerry, rin, senators, udall, visa bill



Related Forum Posts
Re: When you get one, get a Visa - I was thinking about Visa or Mastercard. Visa sounds good though! What about American Express?
Merry Christmas everyone! - I'm just waiting for my son to wake up to start our Christmas traditions and I wanted to drop a quick note here to thank everyone for your support of the forums. We've have an exciting year and hopefully we can reach and help even more entrepreneurs in 2011! I hope you enjoy your families and have a fantastic holiday break... and then get ready to kick some butt with your business in 2011! Merry Christmas everyone!
credit cards - Nana, you can get a credit card! Get a Secured Credit Card. It's a Visa or MasterCard which is a hybrid of a chequing/credit card. There are two types: 1. You put in an amount that you would like to have as your credit limit in $500 increments as security and you you can either pay in full each month or make minimum payments 2. You can have a credit card linked to your chequing account and you can spend only has much as you have in your chequing account. I recommend #1 and they both go to improving your credit limit.
Re: What Franchisors Want From Franchisees - Thanks for the follow up Russell. I found the following tip to be especially helpful: [quote="RussellWebb":2vqd3szf]Financing arrangements will vary - if you can show that you have 20% above all of your start-up costs, this would help. The more assets you own the better.[/quote:2vqd3szf] By the way, is there a way for someone to achieve a close to "1000" credit score? I've always paid off my Visa bill and car payments on time... but I bet my credit score is not even between 800-1000. I wonder what the secret is to 1000?
Re: Your weapon for success - Let use this weapon this 2011 for a great success


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