STARTUP  A C T

Section 3 – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Immigrants with an Advanced Degree in a STEM Field​
• Creates a new visa for up to 50,000 foreign students who graduate from an American university with a Master’s or Ph.D. degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
• Visa recipients would be granted conditional status contingent upon their remaining actively engaged in a STEM field for five consecutive years. Once conditional status is lifted, the visa holder becomes a permanent legal resident with the option to naturalize.
• Directs the GAO to conduct a study within three years of passage of Startup Act on the utilization of the new visa.

 

Section 4 – Immigrant Entrepreneurs​
• Creates a new visa for up to 75,000 immigrant entrepreneurs who hold an H-1B visa or F-1 visa, and who during the 1-year period after the new visa is issued register at least one new business entity that employs at least two full-time, non-family member employees, and invests or raises capital investments of at least $100,000.
• If these requirements are satisfied, the entrepreneur would have three additional years to remain in the U.S. and operate his or her business. During the three-year period, the entrepreneur must employ at least five, full-time, non-family members for the business entity. At the end of the three years, a recipient may apply to remove the conditional status.
• Defines “full-time employee” as a United States citizen or legal permanent resident who is paid by the immigrant entrepreneur at a rate comparable to the median income of employees in the region.
• Directs the GAO to conduct a study within three years of passage of Startup Act on the utilization of the new visa.

 

Section 5 – Elimination of the Per-country Numerical Limitation for Employment-based Visas​
• Eliminates the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrant visas and adjusts the limitations on family-based visa petitions from 7 percent per country to 15 percent without increasing the total number of available immigrant visas.