Creative Uses Of The International Entrepreneur Parole Program

In January 2017, the Obama administration, in its waning days, introduced the International Entrepreneur Parole (IEP) program, which would allow the Department of Homeland Security to exercise its parole authority and grant a temporary stay period to entrepreneurial foreign nationals who are coming to the United States to develop promising startup businesses that have strong economic and job-creation potential. The proposed rule initially excited many in the startup community, but their elation was short-lived. Due to various political and legal reasons, the IEP program was suspended before its proposed effective date and had been on hiatus until it was eventually reinstated by the Biden administration in June 2021.