After nearly a decade, the federal program for immigrant entrepreneurs is finally working

Mukul Patnaik came to the United States in 2019 from India as an international student.

Three years later, he shared his vision and insights in an article about the future of computing, comparing the dramatic changes happening now to the Cambrian Explosion — a time in the Earth’s history half a billion years ago when evolution was fast-tracked, leading to many of the life forms we see today.  

As a student, Patnaik also created ResearchGPT, an open source project that went viral and ultimately changed the course of his career. 

With the momentum from that project, Mukul has become a leading AI entrepreneur as the founder of Portal, an AI executive assistant in the form of a private, lightweight browser. Portal is at the forefront of the AI revolution and has received significant funding from a leading venture capital firm in the US. Portal is currently in private beta with a few hundred users and will be launching widespread soon. The company is also creating American jobs — it is actively recruiting for several open positions. 

It would seem obvious that the United States would want to keep entrepreneurs like Mukul here to lead development and thinking on AI. 

But today’s immigration system was mainly created in the 1960s, and was focused on a simpler time with traditional categories for full-time students or 9-to-5 employees. Unfortunately, the US lacks a “startup visa” like we see in the immigration systems of many of our international peers. 

However, Mukul was able to pursue his American dream with the help of coauthor and immigration attorney Fiona McEntee through a targeted program called the International Entrepreneur Parole (IEP). 

Parole is a discretionary authority that the Biden-Harris administration believes should be granted to people like Mukul, who raise significant funding from US-based sources and can show that their business has a high potential for growth and job creation. IEP provides an immigration pathway for these promising founders. 

Almost a decade after IEP was initially proposed, it is finally working as envisioned, and Mukul is one of the first to benefit. Coauthor Dan Berger just had an IEP case approved for a company that uses AI tools to guide rare minerals exploration. 

To date, however, only 94 IEP applications have been filed, with only 26 approvals. Twenty-six people approved, total, across the US. 

After years of advocacy, IEP is a viable option

It was a long series of ups and downs to get the IEP to this point.

The National Venture Capital Association went to court in 2017 to keep the idea alive, and a coalition of entrepreneurial organizations has advocated for the program over the years. Now, seven years later, the Biden-Harris administration and the Department of Homeland Security have made the program fully operational as part of a general goal to attract and retain STEM talent. 

Earlier in the administration, cases were moving very slowly, discouraging fast-moving entrepreneurs from applying. But with recent updates announcing the elimination of backlogs and a commitment to deciding new applications quickly, the program can finally live up to its potential.

As immigration attorneys, we see strong interest in IEP, and see the program moving toward the estimated hundreds of thousands of jobs these immigrant startup founders could create. This is especially true in STEM and emerging fields like AI and quantum, areas in which immigrants play an “outsized role”.

IEP is a sensible policy. At its core, the program focuses on economic growth and job creation. The challenge has always been in evaluating a startup. It’s an imperfect science, and some good ideas do not work out. We remember the days when Amazon and Uber were losing money, and many were skeptical of those business models. 

IEP relies on experts in entrepreneurship to evaluate potential for success. The venture must show at least $312,000 in investment from established investors or $125,000 from government agencies or local economic development councils. Those investors have evaluated the company and decided to fund it. IEP then provides temporary work authorization for key international entrepreneurs to help try to make it work.

After many years of advocacy, IEP is finally a viable option for immigrant startup founders. We should not let the political moment disrupt the momentum. We look forward to seeing what new ventures will be possible in the future.

This story, and all of Technical.ly's immigration reporting, is made possible by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund supports catalytic efforts to create more inclusive economies for immigrants and refugees in the US and Canada. It works closely with organizations and leaders focused on ensuring more equitable access to opportunity and wealth.