Last week, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced the “StartUp Visa Act of 2010”, designed to attract wealthy immigrant investors to the United States.

If passed, the law will create a new visa category called the EB-6 Visa for foreign national entrepreneurs that builds on the existing EB-5 category. EB-5 visas are for aliens that directly invest a minimum of $1M and create at least 10 jobs. According to Richard Lugar:

"Our country should strive to attract to the United States the most talented and highly skilled entrepreneurs. We should channel the power of innovative thinkers from around the world and American investors towards creating jobs and encouraging economic growth and future prosperity."

The pending legislation will allow foreign nationals to receive a temporary two year U.S. visa if they initially attract at least $250,000 from a qualified U.S. venture capital firm or $100,000 from an angel investor. Then, the alien entrepreneur has two years to either 1) raise another 1 million in investment, or 2) generate at least one million dollars in revenue and create at least five jobs (the entrepreneur’s immediate family are excluded). If these conditions are met, the alien is awarded a permanent resident visa.

Since this bill was jointly sponsored by both a Republican and Democratic senator, the politics of the proposal would relatively seem nonexistent. Considering the fact that nativist sites like FAIR, Michelle Malkin, and even the far right wing xenophobes at VDare have not (at least yet) spoken out against this bill could foreshadow relatively easy passage.

However, one Center for Immigration Studies blogger, John Miano, implied that entrepreneur immigrants are somewhat of a myth since many or most immigrants who founded successful companies in the U.S. including Google, nVidia, and Intel came to the U.S. as children, not adults. He further states:

"The fundamental problem with the entrepreneur visa idea is that no one has a system that can identify which six-year-old child immigrant is going to grow up to create a successful startup."

Well, Miano may have a valid historical point, albeit a minor one, since the whole point of the legislation is to stimulate the creation of (adult) foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Not surprisingly, this bill has already received support from at least 160 U.S. venture capitalists. The United States Association of Immigrants wholeheartedly endorse the bill as well.  We hope for speedy passage of this act as a way to help create much needed jobs and boost the U.S. economy.

For the full text of the act, visit myUSA’s Immigration Reports page.