II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 565 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2011 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘StartUp Visa Act of 

5 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STARTUP VISAS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b) of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 203(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para2 graph (7); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(6) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—StartUp visas shall be 

7 made available, from the number of visas allo8 cated under paragraph (5), to qualified immi9 grant entrepreneurs— 

10 ‘‘(i)(I) who have proven that a quali11 fied venture capitalist, a qualified super 

12 angel investor, or a qualified government 

13 entity, as determined by the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security, has invested not less 

15 than $100,000 on behalf of each such en16 trepreneur; and 

17 ‘‘(II) whose commercial activities will, 

18 during the 2-year period beginning on the 

19 date on which the visa is issued under this 

20 subparagraph— 

21 ‘‘(aa) create not fewer than 5 

22 new full-time jobs in the United 

23 States employing people other than 

24 the immigrant’s spouse, sons, or 

25 daughters; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) raise not less than 

2 $500,000 in capital investment in fur3 therance of a commercial entity based 

4 in the United States; or 

5 ‘‘(cc) generate not less than 

6 $500,000 in revenue; 

7 ‘‘(ii)(I) who— 

8 ‘‘(aa) hold an unexpired H1–B 

9 visa; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) have completed a graduate 

11 level degree in science, technology, en12 gineering, math, computer science, or 

13 other relevant academic discipline 

14 from an accredited United States col15 lege, university, or other institution of 

16 higher education; 

17 ‘‘(II) who demonstrate— 

18 ‘‘(aa) annual income of not less 

19 than 250 percent of the Federal pov20 erty level; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) the possession of assets 

22 equivalent to not less than 2 years of 

23 income at 250 percent of the Federal 

24 poverty level; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) who have proven that a quali2 fied venture capitalist, a qualified super 

3 angel investor, or a qualified government 

4 entity, as determined by the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security, has invested not less 

6 than $20,000 on behalf of each such entre7 preneur; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) who have a controlling interest 

9 in a foreign company— 

10 ‘‘(I) that has generated, during 

11 the most recent 12-month period, not 

12 less than $100,000 in revenue from 

13 sales in the United States; and 

14 ‘‘(II) whose commercial activities, 

15 during the 2-year period beginning on 

16 the date on which the visa is issued 

17 under this subparagraph, will— 

18 ‘‘(aa) create not fewer than 

19 3 new full-time jobs in the 

20 United States that employ people 

21 other than the immigrant’s 

22 spouse, sons, or daughters; 

23 ‘‘(bb) raise not less than 

24 $100,000 in capital investment in 


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1 furtherance of a commercial enti2 ty based in the United States; or 

3 ‘‘(cc) generate not less than 

4 $100,000 in revenue. 

5 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION.—If the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security determines that the com7 mercial activities of an alien who received a 

8 StartUp visa pursuant to subparagraph 

9 (A)(i)(II) fail to meet the requirements under 

10 such subparagraph, the Secretary shall, not 

11 later than 1 year after the end of the applicable 

12 2-year period described in such subparagraph— 

13 ‘‘(i) revoke such visa; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) notify the alien that he or she— 

15 ‘‘(I) may voluntarily depart from 

16 the United States in accordance to 

17 section 240B; or 

18 ‘‘(II) will be subject to removal 

19 proceedings under section 240 if the 

20 alien does not depart from the United 

21 States not later than 6 months after 

22 receiving such notification. 

23 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED SUPER ANGEL INVES2 TOR.—The term ‘qualified super angel in3 vestor’ means an individual who— 

4 ‘‘(I) is an accredited investor (as 

5 defined in section 230.501(a) of title 

6 17, Code of Federal Regulations); 

7 ‘‘(II) is a United States citizen; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(III) has made at least 2 equity 

10 investments of not less than $50,000 

11 in each of the previous 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED VENTURE CAPI13 TALIST.—The term ‘qualified venture capi14 talist’ means an entity that— 

15 ‘‘(I) is classified as a ‘venture 

16 capital operating company’ under sec17 tion 2510.3–101(d) of title 29, Code 

18 of Federal Regulations; 

19 ‘‘(II) is based in the United 

20 States; 

21 ‘‘(III) is comprised of partners, 

22 the majority of whom are United 

23 States citizens; 

24 ‘‘(IV) has capital commitments of 

25 not less than $10,000,000; 


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1 ‘‘(V) has been operating for at 

2 least 2 years; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) has made at least 2 invest4 ments of not less than $500,000 dur5 ing each of the most recent 2 years.’’. 

6 (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA7 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 

10 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

11 Homeland Security’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub15 section (f)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘, sponsored 

16 entrepreneur’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub18 section (f)(2)) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

19 each’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting 

21 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entre22 preneur,’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS.—The Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall terminate the per3 manent resident status of a sponsored entrepreneur 

4 and the alien spouse and children of such entre5 preneur if the Secretary determines, not later than 

6 3 years after the date on which such permanent resi7 dent status was conferred, that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the qualified venture capitalist or 

9 qualified super angel investor who sponsored 

10 the entrepreneur failed to meet the investment 

11 requirements under section 203(b)(6)(A)(i); or 

12 ‘‘(B) the entrepreneur failed to meet the 

13 job creation, capital investment, or revenue gen14 eration requirements under section 

15 203(b)(6)(A)(ii).’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) in the matter preceding subpara19 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘sponsored entre20 preneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entrepreneur,’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘alien entrepreneur 

22 must’’ each place such term appears and 

23 inserting ‘‘entrepreneur shall’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by insert2 ing ‘‘or sponsored entrepreneur’’ after 

3 ‘‘alien entrepreneur’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

5 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien en6 trepreneur’’; 

7 (5) in subsection (d)(1)— 

8 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

9 (A), by striking ‘‘alien’’ and inserting ‘‘alien en10 trepreneur or sponsored entrepreneur, as appli11 cable’’; 

12 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘invested, or 

13 is actively in the process of investing,’’ and in14 serting ‘‘has invested, is actively in the process 

15 of investing, or has been sponsored by a quali16 fied super angel investor or qualified venture 

17 capitalist who has invested,’’; and 

18 (C) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or 

19 203(b)(6), as applicable’’ before the period at 

20 the end; and 

21 (6) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘sponsored entrepreneur’ means 

24 an alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully 


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1 admitted for permanent residence under section 

2 203(b)(6).’’. 

3 SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

6 of the United States shall submit a report to Congress 

7 on the StartUp Visa Program, authorized under section 

8 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

9 added by section 2. 

10 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 

11 (a) shall include information regarding— 

12 (1) the number of immigrant entrepreneurs who 

13 have received a visa under the immigrant entre14 preneurs program established under section 

15 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 

16 listed by country of origin; 

17 (2) the localities in which such immigrant en18 trepreneurs have initially settled; 

19 (3) whether such immigrant entrepreneurs gen20 erally remain in the localities in which they initially 

21 settle; 

22 (4) the types of commercial enterprises that 

23 such immigrant entrepreneurs have established; and 


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1 (5) the types and number of jobs created by 

2 such immigrant entrepreneurs. 

Æ 


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