By Michelle Quin
February 4, 2013
The big push for immigration reform is off and running, but some in the tech industry are hoping startups don’t get left in the dust.
The question of an entrepreneur visa has emerged after the initial euphoria over the Senate’s Immigration Innovation Act, or I-Squared, which would address the major workforce needs of big tech companies.
A visa option is missing in the proposal that quickly won industry support, and some say its inclusion is important to encourage talented people worldwide in the science, technology, engineering and math fields to create businesses in the United States.
But there are still some proposals that could address that issue.
The entrepreneur idea was in Startup Act 2.0, legislation by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). That plan would have allowed those legally in the U.S. on certain visas to stay and set up businesses as long as they meet funding requirements and hire U.S. citizens. Currently, those entrepreneurs often self-petition for H-1Bs, which can be difficult.
The Startup Act 2.0 is expected to be reintroduced in coming weeks, according to a Senate staffer.
And Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said this week they would introduce the Startup Visa Act, which former Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced last year with Udall. That bill would allow foreign entrepreneurs with U.S. investors or revenue to come to the United States.
How important a special entrepreneurial visa will be in the larger immigration reform discussion remains to be seen.
I-Squared, introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as Rubio and Coons, would raise the cap on H-1B temporary work visas and adjust the visas available based on market demand. While that proposal makes sense to many in the tech industry, some lawmakers may be concerned about the potential impact on U.S. citizens and jobs. The act also would free up more green cards by removing categories of people now counted in the available green card pool.
“I-Squared is terrific,” Steve Case, founder and former chief executive of AOL and now a venture capitalist, told POLITICO. “I’m totally supportive of it.” He also added that entrepreneur visas are “a good idea.”
John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said in a statement by TechNet that “the positive impact that immigrant entrepreneurs and engineers have had on our economy is profound. They establish one quarter of U.S. technology startup companies and the jobs that come with this growth. They are critical for U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. We urgently need to improve our STEM pipeline and change our immigration laws. I-Squared is a positive step toward these reforms.”
The industry also cheered last week when President Barack Obama in his immigration reform speech in Las Vegas mentioned creating a “startup visa,” which would allow entrepreneurs born in other countries to come or stay and work in the United States.
“Right now, there are brilliant students from all around the world sitting in classrooms at our top universities,” Obama said Wednesday. “They are earning degrees in the fields of the future like engineering and computer science. But once they finish school, once they earn that diploma, there’s a good chance they’ll have to leave our country.”
Luis Arbulu, founder and managing director at Hattery, an early-stage venture firm in San Francisco, said the I-Squared Act and the president’s immigration proposal “complement each other.”
He noted that the green cards freed up in the I-Squared proposal “can apply but are not necessarily targeted to entrepreneurs,” he said.
Others see a need for a separate visa program. “There needs to be an entrepreneurial [startup] visa,” said Brad Feld, managing director at Foundry Group.
Craig Montuori, executive director of PolitiHacks, was more critical: “The I-Squared proposal primarily addresses concerns of public tech companies, like Microsoft, Intel or Google. We’re disappointed by the lack of direct attention in that the proposal doesn’t create a startup visa for jobs-creating entrepreneurs.”
Some tech groups, which are gearing up for the policy debates, say that while I-Squared may not be everything tech wants, particularly for emerging companies, it represents a major jump forward.
Next week, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group is bringing about a dozen startup chief executives and founders to Washington. With I-Squared, said Emily Lam of the SVLG, “there will be more H-1B visas, which benefit large companies, but this also benefits smaller companies for whom each employee can be critical to their survival.”
The organization is interested in entrepreneur visas as well, she said. “That is one of our key asks.”
Working with the Compete America coalition, tech industry leaders have divvied up who will be the point person in each chamber on immigration reform. Dan Turrentine of TechNet will focus on Senate Democrats along with Peter Brown of Deloitte, and Shawn Vasell of Hewlett-Packard and Frank Cavaliere of Microsoft will zero in on the Senate Republicans.
The House Republicans will be handled by Andy Halataei of the Information Technology Industry Council and Gene Irisari of Texas Instruments. Peter Muller of Intel and Qualcomm’s Ayush Soni will focus on House Democrats.
“We are not going to leave anything to chance,” said Scott Corley, executive director of Compete America. “It’s an all-out push to get something done on this issue. Everyone says they are with us. We’ll find out if this is true.”
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