US Government Expected to Revive International Entrepreneur Parole Program
The Department of Homeland Security has withdrawn a 2018 proposal to rescind the International Entrepreneur Parole program, which may now be revived. This article covers the program's history, parole period, family provisions and eligibility requirements, and clarifies that parole is not a visa or an immigration program.
This week, the Department of Homeland Security withdrew the Trump administration's 2018 opposition proposal from the Federal Register and is expected to revive the International Entrepreneur Parole Program (IEP). The Obama administration created the IEP program in January 2017 at the end of its term, originally expected to take effect in July 2017, but after the Trump administration took office, it was delayed to March 2018 and subsequently proposed for elimination.
Biden v. Trump (Photo: Planned Parenthood Votes)
The IEP program allows entrepreneurs and business founders who have secured funding and meet the public interest to be paroled into the United States, automatically receive work authorization, and start their entrepreneurial work immediately upon entry. The initial parole period is two and a half years, extendable for another two and a half years, for a total of five years; spouses and children may come to the U.S. under the same status and may apply for work authorization. Individuals with H-1B and F-1 OPT status may also apply for the IEP program.
- USCIS Announcement
- USCIS Program Overview: International Entrepreneur Parole
- Report by The National Law Review
- Wikipedia entry "International entrepreneur rule"
Some self-media outlets have called the IEP the "EB-6 startup visa," but parole is not a visa; parolees do not have immigration status and generally cannot change status, and the IEP itself is not an immigration program (EB-5 is an immigration program). According to previous reports, the conditions for applying for the IEP include:
- The company must be a startup entity formed in the United States within the past five years.
- The applicant must own at least 10% of the company and play a key role in its actual operations and management.
- Within 18 months before applying, the company must have received at least $250,000 in investment funds from qualified U.S. investors, or $100,000 in grants from federal, state, or local government. These investment funds cannot come from the entrepreneur themselves, family members, or companies affiliated with them.
- The applicant must file Form I-941 with a $1,200 application fee and an $85 biometrics fee.
