Tag Archives: green card

Business StartUp Visa for US

Immigration News, , , , , , ,

On February 24, the first positive US Immigration reform legislation was officially introduced to Congress co-sponsored by Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lugar (R-IN). As you know we strongly opposed the H1B visa and L1 visa reform legislation introduced to Congress by Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Grassley (R-IA) as being short-sighted, anti immigrant and ultimately bad for the US and the US economy.

So this new bill titled the StartUp Visa Act of 2010 has been what many venture capitalists, industry leaders in the Silicon Valley and technology space and prominent academics like Vivek Wadhwa had been calling for to help drive job creation and increase America’s global competitiveness by allowing immigrant entrepreneurs to remain in the US and innovate. Ultimately bringing great wealth to the US, thousands of new jobs to the US economy and ultimately prosperity to the US economy and people as a whole via greater tax revenues.

There is great precedent for this as according to American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, a 2006 study commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association, 25% of U.S. public companies that were backed by venture capital had immigrant founders. The list reads like a who’s who of the tech industry with Intel, Sun Microsystems, eBay, Yahoo and Google. Additionally of current venture funded organizations, that number rises to 50% for immigrant founded companies.

So you can see we are talking about millions of Americans directly and indirectly employed and involved in these industries and a huge injection to the US economy as a whole that if it didn’t exist in whole or partially would mean a radically different US today and most probably a completely new world economic superpower where these companies did reside.

Essentially a new visa category would be created called EB-6 for immigrant entrepreneurs, and take a portion of visas from the current EB-5 visa category which allows foreigners who invest a minimum of $1 million into the U.S. economy, and create ten jobs to be able to get a green card.  The EB-5 has many strict conditions attached to it, including around location of operation making it a less desirable option.

The StartUp visa will be made available to qualified candidates if they can suffice the following criteria;

– have a qualified venture capitalist or angel investor that has invested a minimum of at least $100,000 per immigrant founder, totaling a minimum amount of $250,000
– following proof of securing the initial funding capital, after two years, the immigrant can show that he or she has generated at least five full-time jobs in the United States (beyond immediate family members), and attracted another 1 million in investment funding or generated $1 million in revenue, then that person would receive permanent resident status (i.e. a green card)

Already as mentioned this has wide industry support but no doubt the dark forces of short-sighted lobby groups, bigoted members of society and dopey congress people will no doubt not see any of this overwhelming evidence and try and torpedo this effort at true US Immigration reform that benefits the country.

To read some extra details about this new StartUp Visa and the full Act itself go to the highlighted link.and also sign their petition in support of the legislation.

CJ

P.S. There is a major Immigration Rally taking place in Washington DC on Sunday March 21  organized by over 700 committed organization championing real change and you can click on the link to either participate or support this great cause.

How You Can Lose You Green Card or PR Status

Green Card & Citizenship, Guest Posts, , , , ,

It is with great difficulty that an immigrant acquires the status of permanent residence in the United States. But this does not mean that an immigrant should act indifferently once he gets his permanent resident status. Once obtained, he has a greater responsibility of maintaining that status. This is because it takes only moments to wash away all the hard work that has been put in to acquire that status.

The most important of all the reasons for the loss of a permanent residence status is indulging in any form of criminal activity. No government of any country can tolerate its immigrants adding to the crime rate. It is similar with the United States government.

Being a law abiding society, it is but obvious that all the permanents of the United States are to follow the laws of the country. If any of the immigrants are convicted for any form of criminal activity or practice activities that are considered a crime in the United States or any other country, which would pose a barrier to their status. The immigrant would instantly be deported back to his native country and would not be permitted to enter the United States ever again.

Some of the following criminal activities that could hamper the permanent residence status of an individual include the following:

  • Any form of violent activities and the punishment of such crimes include a minimum of a year of service in the prison.
  • Committing murder.
  • Activities involving terror which would may pose a threat to the local population.
  • Rape, molestation and sexually assaulting women and children.
  • Illegal dealings in arms, drugs and human trafficking.
  • Sexual misconduct, causing physical harm, any fraudulent practices which have led to loss or damage to people and property.
  • Threatening someone for one’s own means as well as reckless behavior.

Additionally, there would be a serious outcome incase of the following:

  • Providing with false information and lying to get immigration benefits.
  • Claiming to be a citizen of the United States when the immigrant is actually not.
  • Participating in elections – federal or local, that is only permitted to the citizens of the United States.
  • Indulging in drinking or being a habitual drunk as defined by the US immigrant department as well as using drugs illegally.
  • If an individual is married to two people at a given period of time.
  • Neglecting the responsibilities of supporting the family.
  • Found to be practicing domestic violence.
  • Not filing tax returns on time.

In case an individual has been involved in any of the above, the first thing that he must do is to contact an immigration lawyer or any community based organization which provides legal support to these immigrants.


Guest Post Author

Ajay Sharma