Republican Senator Mark Udall
of Colorado reintroduced S.189 yesterday, co-sponsored by Republican
Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, 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. Sen. Jeff Flake is also playing a role in the Senate
for CIR.
This piecemeal immigration bill is likely considered
in the CIR. As we reported earlier, Republicans may introduce
a number of piecemeal immigration reform bills in both the Senate
and the House. These piecemeal bills have slim or no chance to
be passed in both Houses unless it is considered within the context
of the CIR until the CIR legislation is resolved this year.
According to the sponsor,
this bill will allow immigrant entrepreneurs and foreign graduates
of U.S. universities to appeal for a two-year visa on the condition
that they secure financing from a qualified U.S. investor and
can demonstrate the ability to create jobs in America.
If they
are successful in developing their company and hiring American
workers, they would be eligible for legal permanent residency
and would be free to continue building their companies, creating
more home-grown jobs and continuing our legacy of unmatched innovation
and entrepreneurship.
According to him, while we try to work
out a solution to our broken immigration laws, our foreign competitors
are catching up and, in some cases, passing us by in many of
the fields we once dominated. In 2009, for the first time in
recent memory, foreign innovators were awarded more patents than
Americans pioneers. Only a decade earlier, U.S.-based entrepreneurs
were awarded almost 57 percent of all patents worldwide.
The
Startup Visa Act of 2013 is allegedly a strong and simple step
that will reward foreign innovators, pioneers and entrepreneurs
for creating jobs in America.
Full Text Of The Bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:S.189: