ARTICLE · 10 OCTOBER 2016

A Business Immigration Practitioner's Take On The New Entrepreneur Program And Recent Trends

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently announced its new entrepreneur program in which it is hoping to attract entrepreneurs from around the world to enter the U.S. and start U.S. businesses.

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently announced its new entrepreneur program in which it is hoping to attract entrepreneurs from around the world to enter the U.S. and start U.S. businesses. Historically, that required either:

Taking advantage of an existing E-1 or E-2 treaty between the investor's country of citizenship (or perhaps multiple citizenships) and the U.S. leaving out the great majority of countries in the world and therefore citizens of those countries; or
Investing at least one million dollars in the EB-5 program (though it could be reduced to $500,000 in high unemployment or rural areas).

The new entrepreneur program is a result of a number of years of DHS dialoging with the U.S. business community and other interested parties.

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