Immigrants Have Been Founded 51% of U.S. Billion-Dollar Startups

It seems that immigration is good for US business as start-ups worth $1 billion or more are started by immigrants. The Arlington-based think tank National Foundation for American Policy has carried out the research. Public data was used and the 3 highest valued were Uber Technologies, Palantir Technologies and Space Exploration Technologies and calls are now being made for visas to become more readily available for entrepreneurs.

With backing from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, it would seem that all would back the view but some claim it is an attempt to obtain cheap labour and Donald Trump would like to see the number reduced. New legislation could mean workers need advanced degrees, 10 years experience and the expectation of lower pay than US citizens.

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Getting a visa is not easy as there are 233,000 applications for 85,000 visas. 20,000 places are for American university graduates and when it comes to the rest, new entrepreneurs will struggle as many are given to those whose employers speak up for them. No employer means no chance of a visa. Many companies are late being set up as this can only happen after permanent residency is secured and then a green card obtained. Raising funds would be hard as no one would invest knowing the owner may be deported. It took Jyoti Bansal 7 years to get a green card and he could not start AppDynamics Inc. before then in case he lost his H-1B status. A two-year green card may become available and will be removed if business promises are not kept.

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