[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3029 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``StartUp Visa Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. STARTUP VISAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 203(b)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) Sponsored entrepreneurs.--
                    ``(A) In general.--StartUp visas shall be made 
                available, from the number of visas allocated under 
                paragraph (5), to qualified immigrant entrepreneurs--
                            ``(i) who have proven that a qualified 
                        venture capitalist or a qualified super angel 
                        investor has invested not less than $100,000 on 
                        behalf of each such entrepreneur in an equity 
                        financing of not less than $250,000; and
                            ``(ii) whose commercial activities will, 
                        during the 2-year period beginning on the date 
                        on which the visa is issued under this 
                        subparagraph--
                                    ``(I) create not fewer than 5 new 
                                full-time jobs in the United States 
                                employing people other than the 
                                immigrant's spouse, sons, or daughters;
                                    ``(II) raise not less than 
                                $1,000,000 in capital investment in 
                                furtherance of a commercial entity 
                                based in the United States; or
                                    ``(III) generate not less than 
                                $1,000,000 in revenue.
                    ``(B) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Qualified super angel investor.--The 
                        term qualified super angel investor means an 
                        individual who--
                                    ``(I) is an accredited investor (as 
                                defined in section 230.501(a) of title 
                                17, Code of Federal Regulations);
                                    ``(II) is a United States citizen; 
                                and
                                    ``(III) has made at least 2 equity 
                                investments of not less than $50,000 in 
                                each of the previous 3 years.
                            ``(ii) Qualified venture capitalist.--The 
                        term `qualified venture capitalist' means an 
                        entity that--
                                    ``(I) is classified as a `venture 
                                capital operating company' under 
                                section 2510.3-101(d) of the Code of 
                                Federal Regulations;
                                    ``(II) is based in the United 
                                States;
                                    ``(III) is comprised of partners, 
                                the majority of whom are United States 
                                citizens;
                                    ``(IV) has capital commitments of 
                                not less than $10,000,000;
                                    ``(V) has been operating for at 
                                least 2 years; and
                                    ``(VI) has made at least 2 
                                investments of not less than $500,000 
                                during each of the most recent 2 
                                years.''.
    (b) Conditional Permanent Resident Status.--Section 216A of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``(as defined in subsection 
                        (f)(1))'' and inserting ``, sponsored 
                        entrepreneur''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``(as defined in 
                        subsection (f)(2)) shall'' and inserting 
                        ``shall each''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``sponsored 
                entrepreneur,'' after ``alien entrepreneur,'';
            (3) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Sponsored entrepreneurs.--The Secretary of Homeland 
        Security shall terminate the permanent resident status of a 
        sponsored entrepreneur and the alien spouse and children of 
        such entrepreneur if the Secretary determines, not later than 3 
        years after the date on which such permanent resident status 
        was conferred, that--
                    ``(A) the qualified venture capitalist or qualified 
                super angel investor who sponsored the entrepreneur 
                failed to meet the investment requirements under 
                section 203(b)(6)(A)(i); or
                    ``(B) the entrepreneur failed to meet the job 
                creation, capital investment, or revenue generation 
                requirements under section 203(b)(6)(A)(ii).'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by inserting ``sponsored entrepreneur,'' 
                        after ``alien entrepreneur,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``alien entrepreneur 
                        must'' each place such term appears and 
                        inserting ``entrepreneur shall''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting 
                        ``or sponsored entrepreneur'' after ``alien 
                        entrepreneur''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 
                        ``sponsored entrepreneur,'' after ``alien 
                        entrepreneur'';
            (5) in subsection (d)(1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``alien'' and inserting ``alien entrepreneur 
                or sponsored entrepreneur, as applicable'';
                    (B) in clause (i), by striking ``invested, or is 
                actively in the process of investing,'' and inserting 
                ``has invested, is actively in the process of 
                investing, or has been sponsored by a qualified super 
                angel investor or qualified venture capitalist who has 
                invested,''; and
                    (C) in clause (ii), by inserting ``or 203(b)(6), as 
                applicable'' before the period at the end; and
            (6) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) The term `sponsored entrepreneur' means an alien who 
        obtains the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
        residence under section 203(b)(6).''.
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