When Donald Trump came in as the US President, IT jobs in America seemed to be at risk. But do you know why Startup Entrepreneurs secretly love him?
Contrary to what virtually all electoral pundits predicted, Donald Trump surprised many, through his socioeconomic policies and the the tax rebates though the corporates.
Its no secret now that the American ecosystem, actually one of the most mature ecosystems around in the world for startups, techies and VCs. So, there is more good news coming round the corner regarding US visas.
Creating a “startup visa” for international entrepreneurs has always been a part of the President’s commonsense immigration reform principles, and was part of the bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013.
It is no secret that some of Silicon Valley’s tech giants were founded by immigrants. Sergey Brin, a Russian emigrant, co-founded Google; Andrew Grove, originally from Hungary, co-founded Intel; both Steve Chen of YouTube and Jerry Yang of Yahoo came to the U.S. from Taiwan.Entrepreneurs.
Trump administration might soon take this scheme forward, which was introduced by the Obama administration, acknowledging the fact that immigrants continue to become some of the most successful founders in United States.
For example, Brazilian-born Mike Krieger moved to California in 2004 where he met future partner and fellow co-founder of Instagram. Danish co-founders Jon Froda and Anders Pollas created Podio in early 2009. Indonesian-born Malcolm Ong met his fellow co-founder, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, co founded Skillshare while they both working at other startups.
The other reason why USA's policies might affect the startup founders worldwide, is the tax rebate of 15% there, might force the India government to take a similar decision for the Corporate taxes in India.
Startup Visa, is not an option yet, because it has not been passed as a law. As of December 1st, the current senate bill calls for a number of changes to immigration law. Among them, it would create a new type of visa allowing foreign-born entrepreneurs legally in the U.S. to stay if they can raise $100,000 in capital and hire at least two American workers during their first year holding the visa.
Though the impact may not be immediate, organisations such as Google, Amazon, Intel, First Ring, and Serco, among many others, may soon start thinking of moving their jobs back to America as the cost arbitrage starts looking better. The unemployment rate going up any further would be a sensitive issue for the government as it stands to lose political capital with multiple state elections looming.
Another country, France also provides one of the greatest and conducive visa facilities to startup entrepreneurs, techies and VCs. It has been two years after the French government launched the French Tech Ticket, an ambitious scheme to encourage foreign startups to build a base in France.
With the French Tech Visa, goes one step further and invites various patrons of the startup ecosystem to nest in the country. It’s an easier way to get a four-year visa for you and your family and is part of the ‘Passeport Talent’ scheme launched in 2016.
It aims to attract foreign tech talent — founders and employees, for scaling up or investing, in the country and set up a base. However, citizens from the European Economic Area and Switzerland do not need such a visa.
With the French Tech Ticket, foreign entrepreneurs would receive a work visa; a $14,000–28,000 grant for each team member; an office space, free of cost, in an incubator in Paris; and lastly, an English-speaking administrative advisor.
As of now, the French Tech Visa is by far an easier and more inclusive program to net a four-year stay in the country. Its general features, as enlisted on the website, are that it has a four-year validity on a renewable basis; a Talent Passport – Family granted to the spouse of the main applicant, guaranteeing identical family treatment and automatic labour market access as an employee, business founder, etc; no work permit required for any work performed as an employee; and lastly, under certain circumstances, a fast-track procedure will also be provided.
One of the examples of digital giants accepting the environment with open hands, came out when Facebook announced its first startup incubator will be in Paris.
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BW Reporters
Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
