The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed International Entrepreneur Rule in the Federal Register on August 31. The rule would amend the DHS Secretary’s discretionary parole authority to “increase and enhance entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation in the United States.” This means that on a case-by-case basis, foreign entrepreneurs of start-ups may be granted an initial stay of up to two years if their entry into the United States is deemed necessary and beneficial for the rapid growth of a business and for job creation. The entrepreneur must have at least 15% ownership of the start-up and have an active and central role in its operations to be considered. The parole may be extended for another three years after the initial two-year stay after an additional review.
The parole entry would be used for the entrepreneur to oversee and grow the start-up entity based in the U.S. which needs to demonstrate significant capital investment (at least $345,000) by an established and successful U.S. investor or having grants (at least $100,000) from certain Federal, State or Local governmental entities. Additionally, the start-up must have been formed within the past three years.
The proposed rule, available here, has a 45-day comment period and IIUSA is collecting comments from its members for consideration by its Public Policy Committee to be included in the Association’s submission to DHS. Use this form (Members Only) to submit comments to IIUSA no later than Monday, October 3.
