Chicago Universities & Institutes May Sponsor Start-up Entrepreneurs on H1B Visas

In a move to encourage Indians to take up higher education opportunities and jobs in Chicago, the universities in the city will sponsor start-up founders on H1B visas that will not come under the yearly H1B visa cap that is restricted to 65,000 spots overall and 20,000 spots for master’s or higher degree holders. In this case, the universities will run and evaluate the admissions separately and independently.

Among the popular institutes and universities that will work towards the same are the following. These institutes plan to launch a Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence initiative, that will lure entrepreneurs to their campuses.

• DePaul University
• Columbia College
• Loyola University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Northwestern University

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It has been reported that the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel stated that the universities will work in a close association with the City of Chicago and further sponsor about 10-20 visas for promising start-up founders in the first year. Chicago shall be identified as a place where ideas and dreams of upcoming companies can be realised and where entrepreneurship and diversity is given due attention, he added.

As far as pre-evaluation of these start-ups is concerned, the universities will assess their growth opportunities before approving a sponsored budget for them. Early stage start-ups will be employed part-time, who will work separately on their companies whereas already established ones can land a chance to introduce a home-base at their sponsor university, and additionally, mentor its students.

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The state of Massachusetts launched a similar programme back in 2014 at the University of Massachusetts campuses of Boston and Lowell and at Babson College. Through the initiative, about 23 entrepreneurs were sponsored whose companies created 416 jobs and additionally raised $185 million in private investment.

Source: Hindustan Times