U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued comprehensive guidance on parole for international entrepreneurs, and new entrepreneur resources. 

Guidance

USCIS explained that the International Entrepreneur Rule, published in January 2017, provided a framework for the Department of Homeland Security to use its parole authority to grant a period of authorized stay, on a case-by-case basis, to noncitizen entrepreneurs who possess a substantial ownership interest in a start-up entity and who can demonstrate that their stay in the United States would provide a significant public benefit through that start-up entity’s potential for rapid business growth and job creation.

USCIS said that after fully implementing the rule in 2021, it has received a growing number of applications and “continues to adjudicate them as expeditiously as possible.” The agency has now published guidance in the Policy Manual that includes information about:

  • The criteria for consideration for the applicant, the start-up entity, and the qualified investment or government award or grant;
  • Evidence and documentation;
  • The discretionary nature of the entrepreneur parole adjudication;
  • Conditions on parole and bases for termination;
  • The criteria for consideration for an additional parole period; and
  • Options available to the entrepreneur’s family to join the entrepreneur as parolees and, if eligible, to obtain employment authorization.

USCIS noted that although an individual who is paroled into the United States has not been admitted into the United States for purposes of immigration law, parolees may enter and remain in the United States and may be authorized to work.

New Resources

USCIS announced on March 9, 2023, that it has published additional online resources to provide an overview of some of the temporary and permanent pathways for noncitizen entrepreneurs to work in the United States. Included are “some of the most important immigration-related considerations for entrepreneurs contemplating starting or managing a business in the United States,” USCIS said.

The new pages include:

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