Early Wednesday morning, Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Richard Luger introduced the “Startup Visa Act”, aimed to change the EB-5 visa to allow immigrant entrepreneurs to obtain a visa, if there is funding from a sponsoring VC or angel. This should fuel job growth, as one of the requirements to get the visa is adding 5 jobs a year. The plan has garnered the support of over 100 VC’s and angels, and is now an official bill before the Senate.
It is very interesting to see the support that this bill is getting. In a time of healthcare, economy, recalls, and scandals, over 1200 messages were sent to 164 different congressmen from 33 different states about the StartupVisa bill.
What does this mean for the MN startup culture? For now, not much. The bill is fairly down on the docket, so it may be awhile until it gets voted on. However, with our state having a rich startup culture, several VC’s and angels, and a history as a destination for people looking to make a new home, I would not be surprised if we started seeing new faces on the scene once this gets passed.
You can get the full text of the bill HERE, and the website for the group/bill is HERE.