In November, the Obama Administration launched Entrepreneur Pathways, which an official White House blog post characterizes as “an online resource center that gives immigrant entrepreneurs an intuitive way to navigate opportunities to start and grow a business in the United States.”
Entrepreneur Pathways, which is operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is designed to enhance communications with the entrepreneurial community and provide foreign entrepreneurs with the tools and information to determine which nonimmigrant visa category is most appropriate for their particular circumstance.
The White House offered the following example of how the resource could help facilitate a business startup: “Imagine that an entrepreneur from another country participates in a startup mentorship program in the United States, raises a first round of funding from investors, and wants to stay here to grow the company and hire more people. Entrepreneur Pathways explains, in plain English, which existing visa categories might be available to that entrepreneur under current law, and what evidence would be necessary to demonstrate eligibility.”
“President Obama supports Congressional action to create a ‘startup visa’ designed specifically for immigrant entrepreneurs, as part of his vision for a 21st century immigration system,” stated the official White House blog. “In the meantime, [USCIS] will continue its work to streamline existing visa pathways for immigrant entrepreneurs interested in coming to the United States to create jobs.”
