[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 565 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

    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 2011''.

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)(I) who have proven that a qualified 
                        venture capitalist, a qualified super angel 
                        investor, or a qualified government entity, as 
                        determined by the Secretary of Homeland 
                        Security, has invested not less than $100,000 
                        on behalf of each such entrepreneur; and
                            ``(II) whose commercial activities will, 
                        during the 2-year period beginning on the date 
                        on which the visa is issued under this 
                        subparagraph--
                                    ``(aa) create not fewer than 5 new 
                                full-time jobs in the United States 
                                employing people other than the 
                                immigrant's spouse, sons, or daughters;
                                    ``(bb) raise not less than $500,000 
                                in capital investment in furtherance of 
                                a commercial entity based in the United 
                                States; or
                                    ``(cc) generate not less than 
                                $500,000 in revenue;
                            ``(ii)(I) who--
                                    ``(aa) hold an unexpired H1-B visa; 
                                or
                                    ``(bb) have completed a graduate 
                                level degree in science, technology, 
                                engineering, math, computer science, or 
                                other relevant academic discipline from 
                                an accredited United States college, 
                                university, or other institution of 
                                higher education;
                            ``(II) who demonstrate--
                                    ``(aa) annual income of not less 
                                than 250 percent of the Federal poverty 
                                level; or
                                    ``(bb) the possession of assets 
                                equivalent to not less than 2 years of 
                                income at 250 percent of the Federal 
                                poverty level; and
                            ``(III) who have proven that a qualified 
                        venture capitalist, a qualified super angel 
                        investor, or a qualified government entity, as 
                        determined by the Secretary of Homeland 
                        Security, has invested not less than $20,000 on 
                        behalf of each such entrepreneur; or
                            ``(iii) who have a controlling interest in 
                        a foreign company--
                                    ``(I) that has generated, during 
                                the most recent 12-month period, not 
                                less than $100,000 in revenue from 
                                sales in the United States; and
                                    ``(II) whose commercial activities, 
                                during the 2-year period beginning on 
                                the date on which the visa is issued 
                                under this subparagraph, will--
                                            ``(aa) create not fewer 
                                        than 3 new full-time jobs in 
                                        the United States that employ 
                                        people other than the 
                                        immigrant's spouse, sons, or 
                                        daughters;
                                            ``(bb) raise not less than 
                                        $100,000 in capital investment 
                                        in furtherance of a commercial 
                                        entity based in the United 
                                        States; or
                                            ``(cc) generate not less 
                                        than $100,000 in revenue.
                    ``(B) Revocation.--If the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security determines that the commercial activities of 
                an alien who received a StartUp visa pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A)(i)(II) fail to meet the requirements 
                under such subparagraph, the Secretary shall, not later 
                than 1 year after the end of the applicable 2-year 
                period described in such subparagraph--
                            ``(i) revoke such visa; and
                            ``(ii) notify the alien that he or she--
                                    ``(I) may voluntarily depart from 
                                the United States in accordance to 
                                section 240B; or
                                    ``(II) will be subject to removal 
                                proceedings under section 240 if the 
                                alien does not depart from the United 
                                States not later than 6 months after 
                                receiving such notification.
                    ``(C) 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 title 29, 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).''.

SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit a report to Congress on the StartUp Visa Program, 
authorized under section 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act, as added by section 2.
    (b) Contents.--The report described in subsection (a) shall include 
information regarding--
            (1) the number of immigrant entrepreneurs who have received 
        a visa under the immigrant entrepreneurs program established 
        under section 203(b)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
        listed by country of origin;
            (2) the localities in which such immigrant entrepreneurs 
        have initially settled;
            (3) whether such immigrant entrepreneurs generally remain 
        in the localities in which they initially settle;
            (4) the types of commercial enterprises that such immigrant 
        entrepreneurs have established; and
            (5) the types and number of jobs created by such immigrant 
        entrepreneurs.
                                 <all>