A VISA?! Are you f..ing kidding me? Do you know what a fragile status one has while on a VISA? Any day you your visa can be revoked and you can be thrown out.
Do you expect me to risk everything, to pour my life and blood into a business while under the stress that if anything goes wrong I am on a plane with a one-way ticket to a place where I have nothing anymore, together with my family and away for any of my friends?
Do you want founders? Do you want INVESTORS? Anything less than a Green Card is a spit in the face. Take an example from Canada or UK who both offer directly residency under a set of qualification rules, not $1m.
Stop treating us as we're nothing more than students happy to receive a couple dozen k as if that was an actual serious investment. Oh wait...
I've worked on visa for several years, so I know it's like putting your life at the mercy of USCIS. I got enough stress until I got a GC. But there are already people who are willing to risk that, so it is one step forward for those people and for US economy. And it is where pg stands, so at least it's consistent; you shouldn't be surprised.
Of course there are different views. For other countries who wants to compete Silicon Valley, it is bad. For those who concern rights of visa workers, more visas may only make problems worse. You can stands there and discuss those disadvantages logically, but you don't need to burst emotional responses---it won't help changing opinions of the other side.
BTW, I think this visa plan is only an initial step and clear path to a Green Card should be shown as the next step. After September 2001, it seems that employment-based Green Card processing is taking longer and longer. Some of my friends are waiting 5-6 years already. There's not much point if those who has built successful business have to stay on non-immigrant visa status.
The change has to come to take the money and investment out to where it's happening. Innovation is spreading everywhere, yet investment is local, which means North America and (parts of) Europe. And this isn't necessary anymore. The trick isn't to find a way to bring the people to the money, it's a way to bring the money to the people. Most founders will do anything for their startup, but even then, asking someone to move countries is a big request. Americans often think that people would cut off their arm for a US passport; it's simply not true. My opinion is that more of the hard problems are being worked on outside the US than in it, and that means that this investment migration is inevitable.
Do you expect me to risk everything, to pour my life and blood into a business while under the stress that if anything goes wrong I am on a plane with a one-way ticket to a place where I have nothing anymore, together with my family and away for any of my friends?
Do you want founders? Do you want INVESTORS? Anything less than a Green Card is a spit in the face. Take an example from Canada or UK who both offer directly residency under a set of qualification rules, not $1m.
Stop treating us as we're nothing more than students happy to receive a couple dozen k as if that was an actual serious investment. Oh wait...