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He came to America on a student visa, earned a master's degree from Babson
College and is now starting a new business, but Abhinav Sureka worries that
he'll have to return to India. To stay, he needs an H-1B visa, a temporary
work permit typically obtained through a lottery with lower odds of winning
than a coin toss.
To help foreign students like Sureka beat those odds and keep their
companies here, Babson and at least five other U.S. schools are using a new
approach that critics describe as exploiting a legal loophole.
The H-1B visa is the primary work permit for foreign nationals, reserved for
employees with at least a bachelor's degree who work in specialty
occupations such as math or technology. Workers must be sponsored by an
employer to enter an annual lottery for the 85,000 visas awarded by the U.S.
This year, 236,000 workers applied.
But employees of universities - or outside workers who provide services to
universities - are exempt from the cap and can obtain H-1B visas directly.
Using that exemption, schools are creating "global entrepreneur in residence
" programs that let some graduates work part-time on campus, often as
mentors, while they develop their businesses. That allows the graduates to
say they're providing a service to a U.S. university, which can qualify them
for the exemption and a smooth route to a visa.
"This movement came about because of challenges that student visa holders
were beginning to face when they had completed a program," said Bill Stock,
a Philadelphia attorney and president of the American Immigration Lawyers
Association. "There really aren't a lot of other visas that would allow
someone to work temporarily."
Congress created the exemption partly to help colleges hire researchers,
prompting some critics to say that schools are now exploiting a loophole. In
a February letter to the U.S. immigration chief, Republican Sen. Chuck
Grassley of Iowa blasted the practice as a "backhanded attempt" to skirt
federal rules. He called it a "seemingly unlawful" interpretation of the law.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has broadly opposed H-1B
visas, saying they take jobs from American workers and should be banned.
College officials say they're simply using flexibility in the law's language
to address a growing problem. As more international students come to U.S.
schools, many want to stay in the country to start their own businesses. But
with few legal routes beyond the H-1B lottery, entrepreneurs are routinely
forced to go home.
"Every year, we figure Massachusetts says goodbye to over 1,000 graduate
students who otherwise want to stay and start a company," said William Brah,
who leads a program to help foreign entrepreneurs at the University of
Massachusetts' Boston campus. "I mean, it's stupid. You couldn't come up
with a more flawed immigration system if you tried."
The UMass program is open to graduates from any U.S. college. Since it
started in 2014, it has helped 20 graduates get visas, and their businesses
have created 260 jobs, the school says.
Smaller programs have recently formed at the University of Colorado-Boulder,
the University of Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, which
accept a combined six graduates per year. Babson is now taking applications
for up to 10 entrepreneurs.
At the City University of New York, a new program aims to draw 80 business
owners from around the world - not just graduates of U.S. colleges.
"We wanted to try to find some way that would make it possible for an
entrepreneur to come to the country, without us having to pay them to do it,
" said Andy Holtz, chief of the program.
Under an H-1B visa, most workers can stay in the U.S. for up to six years.
After that, they can go home or pursue other visas, including permanent
residence.
Colleges say the new programs are good for their local economies, but they
also can help schools with recruiting international students - a group that
is charged full tuition, unlike many U.S. students.
At Babson, Sureka and his company's two co-founders - both international
students - are considering applying for the college's new program. They've
raised $73,000 for their company, Teplo, which plans to produce a high-tech
portable tea brewer. When they graduated in May, it started a one-year timer
before their student visas expire.
"What if we don't get a visa?" Sureka said. "We can't continue work in the U
.S., and the amount of time we have spent on this project is all wasted."
College and is now starting a new business, but Abhinav Sureka worries that
he'll have to return to India. To stay, he needs an H-1B visa, a temporary
work permit typically obtained through a lottery with lower odds of winning
than a coin toss.
To help foreign students like Sureka beat those odds and keep their
companies here, Babson and at least five other U.S. schools are using a new
approach that critics describe as exploiting a legal loophole.
The H-1B visa is the primary work permit for foreign nationals, reserved for
employees with at least a bachelor's degree who work in specialty
occupations such as math or technology. Workers must be sponsored by an
employer to enter an annual lottery for the 85,000 visas awarded by the U.S.
This year, 236,000 workers applied.
But employees of universities - or outside workers who provide services to
universities - are exempt from the cap and can obtain H-1B visas directly.
Using that exemption, schools are creating "global entrepreneur in residence
" programs that let some graduates work part-time on campus, often as
mentors, while they develop their businesses. That allows the graduates to
say they're providing a service to a U.S. university, which can qualify them
for the exemption and a smooth route to a visa.
"This movement came about because of challenges that student visa holders
were beginning to face when they had completed a program," said Bill Stock,
a Philadelphia attorney and president of the American Immigration Lawyers
Association. "There really aren't a lot of other visas that would allow
someone to work temporarily."
Congress created the exemption partly to help colleges hire researchers,
prompting some critics to say that schools are now exploiting a loophole. In
a February letter to the U.S. immigration chief, Republican Sen. Chuck
Grassley of Iowa blasted the practice as a "backhanded attempt" to skirt
federal rules. He called it a "seemingly unlawful" interpretation of the law.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has broadly opposed H-1B
visas, saying they take jobs from American workers and should be banned.
College officials say they're simply using flexibility in the law's language
to address a growing problem. As more international students come to U.S.
schools, many want to stay in the country to start their own businesses. But
with few legal routes beyond the H-1B lottery, entrepreneurs are routinely
forced to go home.
"Every year, we figure Massachusetts says goodbye to over 1,000 graduate
students who otherwise want to stay and start a company," said William Brah,
who leads a program to help foreign entrepreneurs at the University of
Massachusetts' Boston campus. "I mean, it's stupid. You couldn't come up
with a more flawed immigration system if you tried."
The UMass program is open to graduates from any U.S. college. Since it
started in 2014, it has helped 20 graduates get visas, and their businesses
have created 260 jobs, the school says.
Smaller programs have recently formed at the University of Colorado-Boulder,
the University of Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, which
accept a combined six graduates per year. Babson is now taking applications
for up to 10 entrepreneurs.
At the City University of New York, a new program aims to draw 80 business
owners from around the world - not just graduates of U.S. colleges.
"We wanted to try to find some way that would make it possible for an
entrepreneur to come to the country, without us having to pay them to do it,
" said Andy Holtz, chief of the program.
Under an H-1B visa, most workers can stay in the U.S. for up to six years.
After that, they can go home or pursue other visas, including permanent
residence.
Colleges say the new programs are good for their local economies, but they
also can help schools with recruiting international students - a group that
is charged full tuition, unlike many U.S. students.
At Babson, Sureka and his company's two co-founders - both international
students - are considering applying for the college's new program. They've
raised $73,000 for their company, Teplo, which plans to produce a high-tech
portable tea brewer. When they graduated in May, it started a one-year timer
before their student visas expire.
"What if we don't get a visa?" Sureka said. "We can't continue work in the U
.S., and the amount of time we have spent on this project is all wasted."
