NewsFlash! Text of Final International Entrepreneur Rule Released

Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an advance copy of the final international entrepreneur rule. It will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, and is scheduled to go into effect 180 days from the date of publication. However, it is possible that Congress and/or President-elect Trump could take steps before then to prevent the rule from being implemented.

Assuming the rule does go into effect, the final version makes a few key changes from the proposed version of the rule – which was discussed in the MurthyDotCom NewsBrief, Proposed Rule to Expand Entrepreneur Parole (09.Sep.2016) – including:

  1. Under the final rule, the minimum investment required from a qualifying investor is $250,000. The proposed rule had set this amount at $345,000.
  2. The final rule requires the entrepreneur to have an ownership interest of at least 10% for initial parole, and at least 5% to be eligible for a subsequent period of re-parole. The proposed rule had set the minimums at 15% for initial parole and 10% for re-parole.
  3. The final rule relaxes the requirements to be considered a “qualified investor” from how the term had been defined in the proposed rule.
  4. The final rule makes it a bit easier to meet the job and revenue creation requirements than what had been indicated in the proposed rule.

Overall, it appears the final rule provides a number of improvements over what had been included in the proposed version of the rule. Yet, it still appears to set a very high bar that will likely exclude most entrepreneurs from participating in this program. MurthyDotCom will post a more detailed analysis of the final international entrepreneur rule in the near future. Subscribe to the free MurthyBulletin to receive updates on this and other immigration matters.

 

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