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International Entrepreneur Rule
- trvlngsalesmn 10y agoWhen was this passed?
- tingletech 10y agoit is a regulatory action, so it was never "passed" per se. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulemaking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulemaking it is post-dated next tuesday, I didn't know could post-date a rule
- xenadu02 10y agoBecause it isn't legally "published" until the next business day and Monday is a federal holiday. Federal law says rulemaking isn't valid until 180 days have passed so it kicks in July 17. All of these rules are to keep federal agencies from changing the rules out from under people, and to give Congress/Courts time to act.
- trvlngsalesmn 10y agoInteresting. Thanks for the background and links. So this is how federal agencies that report to the executive branch legislate. I had always wondered what the actual process was.
- tingletech 10y agoThey don't "legislate" they "regulate".
- Finbarr 10y agoReading through it. The gist is you can get 30 months of parole from USCIS if you are a startup entrepreneur that has raised investment. Seems like the threshold is $250k and it can support up to 3 founders. You must own at least 10% to be considered a founder. Looks like you can also get an additional 30 months by raising a further $500k, or having at least $500k ARR with 20% annual growth, or employing 5 US persons full time. You need to maintain a 5% stake and continue to serve a central role in operations in order to qualify for the additional 30 months. The investment has to be raised from investors with a track record of investing in high growth startups. This will come into force from July 17 2017.
- gigatexal 10y agoA similar scheme works for Canadian immigration.
- fapjacks 10y agoBut... Does it work?
- mysterypie 10y agoTypical case went like this: Immigrant investor to Canada spent $300K (Canadian) to buy a pizza joint, hired 5 minimum wage workers, operated business for 3.5 years, then sold it or closed it. Minimum investments and required duration of the business have varied over the years, and by province as well. The typical immigrant investor was not starting Google, a genomics lab, a 3D printing business, or anything even vaguely innovative.
- nopinsight 10y agoWhat happens to them afterward? Do they get a permanent residency just from operating that venture for 3.5 years? (Do they need to pass the point-based qualification as well to get the visa in the first place?) For the US, small business investor-entrepreneurs typically use an E-2 visa but it is non-immigrant and they need to leave the country when the business stops operating.
- emilyfm 10y agoThat was the "investor" visa ("owner-operator"). The US International Entrepreneur Rule is more like the "Start Up Visa" [1] that was introduced in Canada a few years ago, which allows entry for founders of a business supported by local venture capital or incubators (subject to certain monetary amounts and conditions). A major difference: the Canadian start-up visa gives immediate permanent residence, rather than a number of years of temporary status with no guaranteed route forward. [1] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/ http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/
- 10y ago
- forgottenacc57 10y agoThis will be gamed hard by rich people to get into the U.S. Essentially a red carpet side door if you have a slab of cash.
- marcinzm 10y agoThat's nothing new, if you pay $1million (or $500k depending on the area of investment) then you can essentially get a green card as it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa
- clishem 10y agoMany other countries, such as the Netherlands, have a similar law: http://www.dutchdailynews.com/netherlands-offers-residency-to-foreigners-for-1-25-million-euro/ http://www.dutchdailynews.com/netherlands-offers-residency-t...
- geodel 10y agoInteresting. It seems equivalent of USD 1.3M. I wonder if it is competitive for investors.
- icebraining 10y agoPortugal has a similar system, called "Golden Visas", which is significantly cheaper. Of course, being true to this country, there's already a five year backlog due to bureaucracy and investigations into misappropriations and fraud.
- franciscop 10y agoI am not native English speaker so I might be misreading, but isn't parole meant to be for people in prison? So how does this have anything to do with getting into the U.S.? There is already something like what you are suggesting in the U.S. AFAIK, just $500k or $1M depending on the situation.
- xolb 10y agoThis is good news for YC, and I bet that the amount of international founders accepted will increase in the next batch.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- beagle3 10y agoOk, that's the immigration side. What is the tax status of people admitted under this rule? IIRC, only F and J visas are exempt from becoming American taxpayers Being an American taxpayer is fine and dandy if you never plan to live outside the us again; but if you aren't, it's a very expensive and labour intensive deal; your home country bank will fire you as a customer because of FATCA, the reporting requirements to the us are insane (FBAR and every single foreign transaction needs to be reported), and your e.g. Pension savings and other holdings likely become a losing proposition because they are PFICs. Most people ignore these issues, but almost everyone is liable under the us tax code, and especially with the just announced sharing of NSA data with the IRS, it will all be legally documented for the IRS to pursue.
- chulk90 10y agoIf you're moving to the U.S. to grow your young, early-stage startup for the next 5+ years, wouldn't it be easier if you moved your banking to a Silicon Valley / equivalent bank, who tends to be more startup-friendly and gives easier filing rules? That's unless if you have more than 5 years of a banking relationship, but then you wouldn't qualify for this rule anyway.
- beagle3 10y agoThat's true for simple saving and checking, but not true for just about anything else. Most importantly, retirement/pension accounts, which get preferential treatment (in the US they are IRAs and 401k) in one country but not another -- and the US PFIC rules make them much worse than "just" not getting the tax benefits.
- FallujahJane 10y agoHolders of F and J visas do pay taxes in the US, though they may also be liable for taxes in their home countries. (Depending on treaties with their home countries, they may or may not be better off than a regular US taxpayer.) You may be thinking of the rule requiring American citizens to pay taxes over their worldwide income, not only their US income. That rule applies to American citizens as well as permanent residents ("green-card holders"), but generally not to anyone in the US on a temporary visa. That means that someone in the US on a temporary visa will generally be paying US taxes over any income from a job or business they have in the US, but if they have, e.g., income from renting out real estate in another country, that income may be taxed in that other country, but not in the US. Only US citizens and permanent residents are required to report any such foreign income in the US and pay taxes over it, even when they move abroad (with some exemptions). FATCA is not as onerous as you describe for most regular people. As a US taxpayer (whether a citizen or permanent or temporary resident), you have to report foreign bank accounts that at any point during the year contain more than the equivalent of something like $10,000. That's it. There is no requirement (as far as I'm aware) to report "every single foreign transaction." You're right that retirement planning can be complicated for immigrants and temporary visitors. Many countries have rules like the US, where you have to pay into the system for a certain number of years before you become eligible for social-security payments in old age. So for many immigrants retirement becomes a patchwork of sources (a bit of social security, a bit of foreign social security, and otherwise savings in whatever accounts are available in the US and abroad.)
- SwaroopH 10y agoThe status is iffy and still no easy path to a permanent residence. They recommend the usual route of O-1A or EB-2 and no adjustment of status either.
- throwawasiudy 10y agosigh...another H1B hole so startups can enjoy the same benefits of cheap indentured labor as the big consulting agencies.
- nikon 10y agoShould you not be offered some sort of permanent residency in return for "growth and job creation that they would provide a significant public benefit to the United States", especially after the first 30 months? So you get 60 months and then have to leave the country? How is that attractive?
- hkmurakami 10y agoPeople usually convert themselves to H1B at some point in the process.
- throw345hn 10y agoDoes anyone know if you could apply for permanent residency while on this visa?
- ricardonunez 10y agoNo, you can't. This is not a visa.
- Finbarr 10y agoYou can apply for any kinds of visa you want while taking advantage of the parole according to the linked article. You would need to leave the US to change status though.
- gcb0 10y agoeveryone should remember this is the port of entry body. allowing them to decide in case of urgency makes sense fully. entrepreneurs already can request a visa in their home country usa embassy. why the people validating documents at the airport should now decide on startups sounds crazy at least.
- general_ai 10y ago250k is way too low a threshold. I'd put it at at least a million, if not more. But hey, it'll all be repealed shortly anyway, so who cares.