USCIS Provides Guidance on Program for International Entrepreneurs

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued comprehensive guidance on parole for international entrepreneurs.

To enhance entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the International Entrepreneur Rule on Jan. 17, 2017.

This rule provides a framework for DHS 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.

After fully implementing the International Entrepreneur Rule in 2021, we have received a growing number of applications and continue to adjudicate them as expeditiously as possible.

We are now publishing guidance in the Policy Manual, which 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.

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.

For more information, see Part G (International Entrepreneur Parole) in Volume 3, Humanitarian Protection and Parole, of the USCIS Policy Manual.

Additional information on the international entrepreneur parole process, including the criteria for consideration, related definitions, how to apply, and questions and answers, is available on the International Entrepreneur Parole page.