Making the United States Immigration Policy and the Startup Visa Act Proposal Effective : An Exploratory Study of High-Growth Indian American Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Several recent studies demonstrate that Indian American immigrant entrepreneurs play an increasingly important role in the economic growth in the United States. In part due to the compelling evidence of entrepreneurial success amongst immigrants, there is a renewed interest among policy makers in the StartUp Visa Act proposal which aims to drive job creation by helping foreign entrepreneurs secure immigrant visas to the United States. The proposal will allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two year visa if he or she can show that a qualified U.S. investor is willing to invest in the venture. The findings of our study point to important gaps that need to be addressed to make the StartUp Visa proposal yield results. Our analysis of case study data collected from high-growth Indian American immigrant entrepreneurs in the technology industry suggests the following modifications are essential for the StartUp Visa proposal to produce results: (a) program focus shifted from foreign entrepreneurs to immigrants who are already in the United States and who are embedded in immigrant social and professional networks; (b) amend/extend the StartUp Visa to a StartUp Green Card targeted to immigrant groups in the United States with high human capital with a demonstrated higher proclivity for entrepreneurship; (c) remove some of the currently proposed restrictions such as the requirement to raise equity from qualified U.S. investors; and, (d) give preference to those who are currently providing products and services to clients in the United States