II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3029 

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 

FEBRUARY 24, 2010 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. LUGAR) 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 2010’’. 

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— 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3029 IS

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) who have proven that a qualified 

11 venture capitalist or a qualified super 

12 angel investor has invested not less than 

13 $100,000 on behalf of each such entre14 preneur in an equity financing of not less 

15 than $250,000; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) whose commercial activities will, 

17 during the 2-year period beginning on the 

18 date on which the visa is issued under this 

19 subparagraph— 

20 ‘‘(I) create not fewer than 5 new 

21 full-time jobs in the United States 

22 employing people other than the im23 migrant’s spouse, sons, or daughters; 

24 ‘‘(II) raise not less than 

25 $1,000,000 in capital investment in 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3029 IS

1 furtherance of a commercial entity 

2 based in the United States; or 

3 ‘‘(III) generate not less than 

4 $1,000,000 in revenue. 

5 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED SUPER ANGEL INVES7 TOR.—The term qualified super angel in8 vestor means an individual who— 

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

10 defined in section 230.501(a) of title 

11 17, Code of Federal Regulations); 

12 ‘‘(II) is a United States citizen; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(III) has made at least 2 equity 

15 investments of not less than $50,000 

16 in each of the previous 3 years. 

17 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED VENTURE CAPI18 TALIST.—The term ‘qualified venture capi19 talist’ means an entity that— 

20 ‘‘(I) is classified as a ‘venture 

21 capital operating company’ under sec22 tion 2510.3–101(d) of the Code of 

23 Federal Regulations; 

24 ‘‘(II) is based in the United 

25 States; 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3029 IS

1 ‘‘(III) is comprised of partners, 

2 the majority of whom are United 

3 States citizens; 

4 ‘‘(IV) has capital commitments of 

5 not less than $10,000,000; 

6 ‘‘(V) has been operating for at 

7 least 2 years; and 

8 ‘‘(VI) has made at least 2 invest9 ments of not less than $500,000 dur10 ing each of the most recent 2 years.’’. 

11 (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA12 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 

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

15 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub20 section (f)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘, sponsored 

21 entrepreneur’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘(as defined in sub23 section (f)(2)) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

24 each’’; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3029 IS

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

2 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entre3 preneur,’’; 

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

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(3) SPONSORED ENTREPRENEURS.—The Sec7 retary of Homeland Security shall terminate the per8 manent resident status of a sponsored entrepreneur 

9 and the alien spouse and children of such entre10 preneur if the Secretary determines, not later than 

11 3 years after the date on which such permanent resi12 dent status was conferred, that— 

13 ‘‘(A) the qualified venture capitalist or 

14 qualified super angel investor who sponsored 

15 the entrepreneur failed to meet the investment 

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

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

18 job creation, capital investment, or revenue gen19 eration requirements under section 

20 203(b)(6)(A)(ii).’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (i) in the matter preceding subpara24 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘sponsored entre25 preneur,’’ after ‘‘alien entrepreneur,’’; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3029 IS

1 (ii) by striking ‘‘alien entrepreneur 

2 must’’ each place such term appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘entrepreneur shall’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by insert6 ing ‘‘or sponsored entrepreneur’’ after 

7 ‘‘alien entrepreneur’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘sponsored entrepreneur,’’ after ‘‘alien en10 trepreneur’’; 

11 (5) in subsection (d)(1)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), by striking ‘‘alien’’ and inserting ‘‘alien en14 trepreneur or sponsored entrepreneur, as appli15 cable’’; 

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

17 is actively in the process of investing,’’ and in18 serting ‘‘has invested, is actively in the process 

19 of investing, or has been sponsored by a quali20 fied super angel investor or qualified venture 

21 capitalist who has invested,’’; and 

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

23 203(b)(6), as applicable’’ before the period at 

24 the end; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3029 IS

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

2 following: 

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

4 an alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully 

5 admitted for permanent residence under section 

6 203(b)(6).’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS