I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5378 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; 

which was 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 Act of 2014’’. 

5 SEC. 2. STARTUP VISAS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b) of the Immigra7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 203(b)) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para9 graph (7); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(6) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS.— 

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

5 made available, from the number of visas allo6 cated under paragraph (5), to qualified immi7 grant entrepreneurs— 

8 ‘‘(i)(I) who have proven that a quali9 fied venture capitalist or a qualified super 

10 angel investor, as determined by the Sec11 retary of Homeland Security, has invested 

12 not less than $100,000 on behalf of each 

13 such entrepreneur; and 

14 ‘‘(II) whose commercial activities will, 

15 during the 2-year period beginning on the 

16 date on which the visa is issued under this 

17 subparagraph— 

18 ‘‘(aa) create not fewer than 5 

19 new full-time jobs in the United 

20 States employing people other than 

21 the immigrant’s spouse, sons, or 

22 daughters; 

23 ‘‘(bb) raise not less than 

24 $500,000 in capital investment in furVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Aug 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5378.IH H5378

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1 therance of a commercial entity based 

2 in the United States; or 

3 ‘‘(cc) generate not less than 

4 $500,000 in revenue; 

5 ‘‘(ii)(I) who— 

6 ‘‘(aa) hold an unexpired H1–B 

7 visa; or 

8 ‘‘(bb) have completed a graduate 

9 level degree in science, technology, en10 gineering, math, computer science, or 

11 other relevant academic discipline 

12 from an accredited United States col13 lege, university, or other institution of 

14 higher education; 

15 ‘‘(II) who demonstrate— 

16 ‘‘(aa) annual income of not less 

17 than 250 percent of the Federal pov18 erty level; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) the possession of assets 

20 equivalent to not less than 2 years of 

21 income at 250 percent of the Federal 

22 poverty level; and 

23 ‘‘(III) who have proven that a quali24 fied venture capitalist or a qualified super 

25 angel investor, as determined by the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Aug 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5378.IH H5378

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1 retary of Homeland Security, has invested 

2 not less than $20,000 on behalf of each 

3 such entrepreneur; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) who have a controlling interest 

5 in a foreign company— 

6 ‘‘(I) that has generated, during 

7 the most recent 12-month period, not 

8 less than $100,000 in revenue from 

9 sales in the United States; and 

10 ‘‘(II) whose commercial activities, 

11 during the 2-year period beginning on 

12 the date on which the visa is issued 

13 under this subparagraph, will— 

14 ‘‘(aa) create not fewer than 

15 3 new full-time jobs in the 

16 United States that employ people 

17 other than the immigrant’s 

18 spouse, sons, or daughters; 

19 ‘‘(bb) raise not less than 

20 $100,000 in capital investment in 

21 furtherance of a commercial enti22 ty based in the United States; or 

23 ‘‘(cc) generate not less than 

24 $100,000 in revenue. 


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

2 Homeland Security determines that the com3 mercial activities of an alien who received a 

4 StartUp visa pursuant to subparagraph 

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

6 such subparagraph, the Secretary shall, not 

7 later than 1 year after the end of the applicable 

8 2-year period described in such subparagraph— 

9 ‘‘(i) revoke such visa; and 

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

11 ‘‘(I) may voluntarily depart from 

12 the United States in accordance to 

13 section 240B; or 

14 ‘‘(II) will be subject to removal 

15 proceedings under section 240 if the 

16 alien does not depart from the United 

17 States not later than 6 months after 

18 receiving such notification. 

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

20 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED SUPER ANGEL INVES21 TOR.—The term ‘qualified super angel in22 vestor’ means an individual who— 

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

24 defined in section 230.501(a) of title 

25 17, Code of Federal Regulations); 


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1 ‘‘(II) is a United States citizen; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(III) has made at least 2 equity 

4 investments of not less than $50,000 

5 in each of the previous 3 years. 

6 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED VENTURE CAPI7 TALIST.—The term ‘qualified venture capi8 talist’ means an entity that— 

9 ‘‘(I) is classified as a ‘venture 

10 capital operating company’ under sec11 tion 2510.3–101(d) of title 29, Code 

12 of Federal Regulations; 

13 ‘‘(II) is based in the United 

14 States; 

15 ‘‘(III) is comprised of partners, 

16 the majority of whom are United 

17 States citizens; 

18 ‘‘(IV) has capital commitments of 

19 not less than $10,000,000; 

20 ‘‘(V) has been operating for at 

21 least 2 years; and 

22 ‘‘(VI) has made at least 2 invest23 ments of not less than $500,000 dur24 ing each of the most recent 2 years.’’. 


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1 (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA2 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 

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

5 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub10 section (f)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘, sponsored 

11 entrepreneur’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub13 section (f)(2)) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

14 each’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entre17 preneur,’’; 

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

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(3) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS.—The Sec21 retary of Homeland Security shall terminate the per22 manent resident status of a sponsored entrepreneur 

23 and the alien spouse and children of such entre24 preneur if the Secretary determines, not later than 


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1 3 years after the date on which such permanent resi2 dent status was conferred, that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the qualified venture capitalist or 

4 qualified super angel investor who sponsored 

5 the entrepreneur failed to meet the investment 

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

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

8 job creation, capital investment, or revenue gen9 eration requirements under section 

10 203(b)(6)(A)(ii).’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in the matter preceding subpara14 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘sponsored entre15 preneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entrepreneur,’’; and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘alien entrepreneur 

17 must’’ each place such term appears and 

18 inserting ‘‘entrepreneur shall’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by insert21 ing ‘‘or sponsored entrepreneur’’ after 

22 ‘‘alien entrepreneur’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien en25 trepreneur’’; 


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1 (5) in subsection (d)(1)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

3 (A), by striking ‘‘alien’’ and inserting ‘‘alien en4 trepreneur or sponsored entrepreneur, as appli5 cable’’; 

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

7 is actively in the process of investing,’’ and in8 serting ‘‘has invested, is actively in the process 

9 of investing, or has been sponsored by a quali10 fied super angel investor or qualified venture 

11 capitalist who has invested,’’; and 

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

13 203(b)(6), as applicable’’ before the period at 

14 the end; and 

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

16 following: 

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

18 an alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully 

19 admitted for permanent residence under section 

20 203(b)(6).’’. 

21 SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 

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

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

24 of the United States shall submit a report to Congress 

25 on the StartUp Visa Program, authorized under section 


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1 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

2 added by section 2. 

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

4 (a) shall include information regarding— 

5 (1) the number of immigrant entrepreneurs who 

6 have received a visa under the immigrant entre7 preneurs program established under section 

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

9 listed by country of origin; 

10 (2) the localities in which such immigrant en11 trepreneurs have initially settled; 

12 (3) whether such immigrant entrepreneurs gen13 erally remain in the localities in which they initially 

14 settle; 

15 (4) the types of commercial enterprises that 

16 such immigrant entrepreneurs have established; and 

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

18 such immigrant entrepreneurs. 

Æ 


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