[runesoerensen]

It's pretty cool that they're proposing parole rather than an actual visa - I never thought of that possibility, but it seems to fix a lot of policy-related issues, such as visa caps, and allow qualifying entrepreneurs faster entry. Might short-circuit the process and we don't have to wait for politicians to agree that a founder visa makes sense.

Founders also wouldn't have to get a certified LCA or meet minimum wage requirements, which can be pretty costly for a startup and is less relevant in case of founders (who are not taking anyone else's jobs or lowering average wages). And generally founders would probably prefer (and have more to gain from) spending that money to grow the company.

I suspect there are downsides to paroles vs visa (like fewer rights or difficulty obtaining green card/other visa types later maybe?), but this seems like a surprisingly good proposal to fix an acute issue.

[slededit]

Parole is a terrible experience on the ground. Yea you get into the states, but you'll be sent to secondary every time you cross the border while they validate your parole status.

It seems to be a trend for the US to make the immigration experience more and more demeaning in practice.

[OmarIsmail]

I have an O1 and go through secondary every single time I enter the states. Budget a couple of extra hours when traveling to the US and you're fine. After you do it a few times and the agents see you're on the up and up the process goes quite quickly.

Relative to the effort of getting an O1 or chancing your fate to the H1-B lottery this is huge.

[keerthiko]

Having a visa didn't really make this particularly better for me, and at the end of the day being able to get/stay in and just work when you want to work is a damn sight better than what many people (like me) have had to go through in recent years to start a company.

[slededit]

Sure, it's better than nothing. That doesn't change the fact this is one more twist in an already Kafka-esque system.

In the old days when this country's government worked you'd see a new visa category created and USCIS able to keep processing times within reason.

Nobody should take this proposal as an example of the system working.

[runesoerensen]

> Nobody should take this proposal as an example of the system working.

I certainly agree, but it's a great example of how hacking a broken system works :)

"And while there is no substitute for legislation, the Administration is taking the steps it can within existing legal authorities to fix as much of our broken immigration system as possible" https://medium.com/the-white-house/welcoming-international-e...

Go Obama!

[hpagey]

I can attest to this. Every time I enter on AP I get sent to secondary. Last time I had good experience though. I was cleared within 10 mins.