Much of the immigration challenges around case approval for entrepreneur start ups with USCIS has to do with the cases being reviewed by untrained officers, a lack of overall guidance for attorneys and  practitioners concerning this casework, and a fundamental lack of “real world”, hands-on  business knowledge on the part of USCIS.  The agency has definitely released a nice looking mini-website marketing piece on the subject.  We remain hopeful that the implementation of the below-listed changes will be the start of a new mindset for USCIS adjudication of entrepreneur start-up casework.  In reviewing the information,  we note that the Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) team states that they have:

– Developed and deployed a training workshop for USCIS employment-based immigration officers that focuses on start up businesses and the environment for early-stage innovations;
– Trained a team of specialized immigration officers to handle entrepreneur and start up cases;
– Modified Request for Evidence templates for certain nonimmigrant visa categories to incorporate new types of relevant evidence into the adjudicative process; and
– Developed a plan for quarterly engagements with the entrepreneurial community to ensure that USCIS stays current with industry practices.

To sustain the momentum and build on the team’s accomplishments, USCIS indicated that they have extended the EIR project through April 2013.  The project should be extended indefinitely if we are seriously courting foreign entrepreneurs to help jump-start the US economy.  Among other things, the team states that it will expand its focus to immigrant visa pathways that may enable foreign entrepreneurs to start a business in the United States within current immigration law.

We are hopeful, in light of the economic challenges ahead of us in the USA at this time, that Congress will have a light bulb moment and pass legislation for a Start-up Visa and find  a balanced and fair approach to increasing the visa alotment for STEM occupations without the punitive tradeoff approach of penalizing other visa classifications in return.  For more information on the EIR program, we link here.

By:  Timothy Sutton, Communications Editor

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is a comedic quiz program on NPR, testing listener’s knowledge of current events against some of the best and brightest in the news world. While figuring out what’s real news versus what’s made up, the show’s host presents a scenario to the contestant to determine if the scenario is fact or fiction. If you weren’t tuned into C-SPAN, you may have legitimately mistaken the House oversight committee’s interview, of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano, as the latest episode of Wait Wait.

In this episode, members of the Congressional oversight committee rapidly fired questions at Napolitano, cutting short her responses, attempting to validate their “real news,” as something more than “made up.” The result, a trial like inquisition reminiscent of the famous scene between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men, with Napolitano ceremoniously remarking “you can’t handle the truth!” In reality, with grace and imperturbable resolve, Napolitano slowly roasted over the House Committee’s rotisserie.

Attacks upon the DHS Secretary by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Conyers (D-MI), and many more; indicated summary judgment has been rendered against the DHS for their approach to immigration enforcement, particularly in the areas of: visa overstays, boarder security, and deferred action. The business community should take note; Napolitano’s significant immigration reforms have yet to satisfy Congressional discontent. Looking forward, expect tighter regulation of business immigration under the guise of immigration overhaul.

Here are some DHS immigration reform highlights Napolitano submitted to Congress:

• Current DHS immigration reform focuses resources on repeat immigration law violators
• Numerous improvements were made to welcome business people…staying true to our history as a nation of immigrants
• Deterring Employment of Aliens not authorized to work by:

1. Eliminating high-profile raids and focusing on compliance through criminal prosecution of egregious employer violators, Form I-9 inspections, civil fines, and debarment
2. Since 2009, ICE audited more the 8,079 employers, debarred 726 companies, and imposed $87.9 million in financial sanctions

• Educated the business population through instituting:

1. E-Verify with more than 385,000 participants
2. E-Verify self-check

• Improving Legal Immigration:

1. Streamlining path for EB-5 entrepreneurs and clarifying the EB-2 classification
2. Instituted Entrepreneurs in Residence program and proposed regulatory changes in the Federal Register in April 2012 to minimize delays of family based immigration petitions
3. Reduced processing of benefit requests through Electronic Immigration System of Registration (ELIS)
4. Implemented “Study in the States” initiative to attract international students through a streamlined visa process

• Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

1. Supporting the Supreme Court’s decision on Section 2(B) of S.B. 1070

Napolitano capped off her remarks on immigration stating, “only a nationwide solution will resolve the challenges posed by the current immigration system.”

Despite the Congress clearly conveying their message to DHS, “Wait wait, don’t tell me, you think you’re doing a good job…” Napolitano’s focus on streamlining existing immigration policies is positive news for US businesses. Until the promise of streamlining comes to fruition, removing your business from the auditing radar, enrolling in E-Verify, and becoming Form I-9 compliant remain immigration best practices.

If you can handle the truth about current immigration policies, subscribe to our blog and stay informed by checking out our I-9 Employer Resource Center and join our LinkedIn Group.

USCIS has extended an invitation to join them as they launch their Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative with an Information Summit focused on ensuring that the immigration pathways for foreign entrepreneurs are clear, consistent, and better reflect today’s business realities. The engagement will be held February 22, 2012 at 8:30AM – 5:30PM (Pacific Standard Time), in Silicon Valley, CA.

Through panel discussions and breakout sessions, the Summit will give participants the opportunity to share their strategic thinking and business expertise with the agency. The feedback from the Summit will inform the work of the Entrepreneurs in Residence tactical team, which will bring business experts in-house to work alongside USCIS staff to maximize current immigration laws’ potential to attract foreign entrepreneurial talent and to work alongside USCIS staff for a period of approximately 90 days.