US: Proposal for a new immigration rule specifically targeted for entrepreneurs

There has been a proposition for a new rule by the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which would grant a new immigration option, leading to a temporary entry for a period of up to 5 years, to foreign individuals seeking to build new companies in the United States.
This new rule was proposed on Friday, 26^th August’ 2016, by the Department of Homeland Security and is an effort by the Obama Administration to create a “start up” visa that would pave the way for Immigrant Entrepreneurs looking for ways to start businesses in the United States, without getting any action from Congress. Entrepreneurs from any industry can be eligible to apply for this program, though a special preference is given to applicants from the technology field as it has been Silicon Valley’s top priority to introduce an immigration route for start-up founders specifically.
This new rule will take advantage of the existing Immigration And Nationality Act, according to which the US government has the authority to grant individuals temporary entry into the country on a case-by-case basis for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit”. The white house is arguing for the latter, saying that those entrepreneurs who are contributing to GDP by creating jobs in the United States are serving a significant public benefit.

Application Through Two Tiers Of Admission

There isn’t a predetermined cap restricting the number of people that can apply under this new proposed immigration rule, although there are significant requirements to meet the edibility criteria. Entrepreneurs will have the option to apply for two tiers of admission.
Through the first tier, applicants will gain entry into the country for two years. However, the government will reserve the right to reverse this decision whenever they want to. In order to meet the eligibility criteria under this proposed rule, the individuals must own at least 50% of the stock in their companies and should have risen at least $345,000 from US Investors with track record of US investments, or at least $100,000 from federal, state, or local government agencies.
The second tier will grant admission to businessmen for an additional period of 3 years. To qualify for this, they have to meet certain conditions, such as continuously running their businesses in the US, retaining at least 10% of ownership, either raise at least $500,000 from US investors, or generate $500,000 in annual revenue with 20% year-over-year growth, or show that they have created at least 10 full time jobs throughout the five-year period.
This proposal comes up at a time when a similar foreign Immigrant Investor Program, the US EB-5 program, is up for renewal in Congress at the end of September.
According to US immigration officials, this new program is not a replacement for the US EB-5 program, an entrepreneur immigration program for individuals who invest at least half a million dollars in a US business. Against this investment, they will receive conditional residency status, a chance to secure Immigration To USA , and an eventual path to US citizenship if their investment succeeds.
The public can express their opinions on this proposal during the 45-day comment period. At the end of this period, the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS) will address the comments.  The proposal will not take effect until after a final rule is published in the Federal Register.
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Immigration To Canada

The federal government of Canada is contemplating to launch a new Immigrant Investor Program which will be specifically targeted to attract exorbitantly high net worth individuals, seeking for Immigration to Canada.
According to John McCallum, the Immigration minister of Canada, this new program would grant permanent residence status to applicants against a substantial investment amount. He further stated that if this program could actually aid in generating major jobs and investment in Canada then he would seriously consider initiating this fresh Investor program.
In 2014 the Canada Immigrant Investor Program (CIIP) was eliminated by the Harper government, disregarding the soaring number of 15,000 applicants, which were mainly Chinese.  The conservative government then reinstated the Immigrant Investor Venture capital Pilot Program which has been an ineffectual attempt to replace the previous one and has failed to generate a lot of applicantions as a result of improbable terms and conditions.

The implied provisions of the new Federal Investor Immigration Program

• A possible investment requirement between the ranges of CAD $1.5 million to $2 million which is a very competitive investment in comparison to similar investor programs.
• There is no minimum net worth requirement which makes this program more appealing and easier to apply for the investor. This is consistent with the industry.
• The asset classes are to be chosen by the investor, being consistent with the industry.
• This investment is exclusive of any residential real estate, and hence averts concerns of real estate bubbles in famous geographical regions.
• Requirement for strict due diligence and compliance which will be executed by expert third parties.
• A stipulation of $20,000 as processing fees, plus supplementary fees for accompanying dependants.

This program, if implemented, will play a crucial role in boosting immigration to Canada because other investor programs around the world, including the very popular US EB-5 program, have greatly helped in flourishing the economies of their relevant countries by attracting investment worth billions of dollars, leading to a full transformation of some of the major American cities in downtown areas.
Canada, on the other hand, has suffered as a result of missing out on these investment dollars since the shutting down of the CIIP. The commencement of this program with carefully studied conditions, will inject the much-needed cash flow into this country. It would also eradicate the controversy over the successful Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), which has admitted a record number of 5,000 applicants in the year 2015 and grants Canadian permanent residency status in return of an investment of $800,000 for a five-year period.

Eligibility requirements for QIIP:

A personal net worth of $1.6 million which should be obtained legally.

• Two years of suitable management or business experience within the five years preceding the application.
• An investment of $800,000 for a period of five years bearing no interest. Money invested is returned at the end of the period.
• The intention to permanently settle in the province of Quebec

There have been a lot of queries regarding the prices of houses in Vancouver and Toronto, which are two of the biggest cities chosen by applicants to settle into once they obtain Canadian visa through immigration to Quebec. Moreover, some questions have been raised about the benefits of these investments only being enjoyed by Quebec city, whereas the other provinces have to work around these rich individuals residing in their cities. Thus, all of these concerns will be sorted out if the Liberal government takes the decision to introduce this new federal immigrant investor program.
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