The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on May 10, 2021 that they are withdrawing a Trump-era 2018 notice of proposed rulemaking that would have removed the International Entrepreneur (IE) Parole Program from DHS regulations. This move by the DHS is yet another pro-immigration decision resulting from President Biden’s Executive Order 14012, “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans,” which directs the federal government to “develop welcoming strategies that promote integration, inclusion, and citizenship.”
The International Entrepreneur Parole Program (IE), created by the Obama administration in 2017 and suspended by the Trump administration just before the first eligible entrepreneurs could begin to submit applications, is meant help International entrepreneurs stay in the US to start and grow new companies. While the Trump administration tried to terminate the program, a federal court required US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2017 to begin accepting international entrepreneur parole applications consistent with the IE final rule. Since that time, USCIS has been accepting and adjudicating applications consistent with existing DHS regulations.
IE applicants must show they can “provide significant public benefit to the United States, based on factors including the entrepreneur’s ownership stake and leadership role; the growth potential of the startup; competitive research grants from federal, state, and local government agencies; and investment by qualified American investors.” The program allows entrepreneurs to remain in the US initially for up to two years, with one additional period of up to three years contingent on meeting additional requirements. Under the IE program, parole may be granted to up to three entrepreneurs per start-up entity, as well as their spouses and children.
According the USCIS announcement, the program “will remain a viable program for foreign entrepreneurs to create and develop start-up entities with high growth potential in the United States” and “will help to strengthen and grow our nation’s economy through increased capital spending, innovation, and job creation.” Acting USCIS Director Tracy Renaud added: “Immigrants in the United States have a long history of entrepreneurship, hard work, and creativity, and their contributions to this nation are incredibly valuable. The International Entrepreneur parole program goes hand-in-hand with our nation’s spirit of welcoming entrepreneurship and USCIS encourages those who are eligible to take advantage of the program.”