New York intends to support the startup of overseas students

International graduates in New York State may find it simpler to settle down and start enterprises if new legislative ideas are approved. State governors outline their goals for the upcoming months each year. Kathy Hochul is eager to make sure that New York keeps international entrepreneurs in the area and helps them establish start-ups there. 

While international students receive more than 44% of STEM graduate degrees from the State University of New York, the governor noted in New York’s comprehensive State of the State 2024 policy blueprint that obtaining a visa to remain and work can be difficult. She claimed that many “are forced to leave New York and start companies abroad.”

International students are among the immigrant entrepreneurs Hochul hopes to open up new opportunities for. She specifically suggested providing funding to research institutes and colleges in order to support foreign business owners who choose to stay in New York and establish start-ups. 

Graduate and doctorate students involved would have access to university-sponsored visas for further commercial research, which would remove a major obstacle for overseas students wishing to launch their own businesses. 

According to a 2022 National Foundation for American Policy study, a quarter of US billion-dollar startup companies have a foreign student as their founder, and these companies have generated an average of 860 jobs apiece. 

The NFAP also emphasized the significance of foreign students to the United States’ expanding artificial intelligence (AI) industry, noting that 42% of the leading AI startups in the US had an overseas founder. 

However, most of the time, students traveling to the US on an F-1 visa are not allowed to open enterprises. To work for a start-up, they would need to be enrolled in Optional Practical Training, even though they can arrange funding sources and do market research. 

In order to provide international students and graduates with greater chances to work and launch enterprises in the US, policy groups have urged the US government to alter the visa application process. 

“The best solution is for Congress to exempt students with master’s and PhDs from employment-based green card limits, particularly in STEM fields, eliminate the per-country limit, raise H-1B numbers, and create a startup visa for entrepreneurs in order to help more international students remain in the US,” stated Stuart Anderson, executive director of the NFAP. 

In addition, Hochul highlighted the unique challenges that immigrants generally have when establishing a business in the US. To address these challenges, Hochul suggested the establishment of a virtual hub that would include useful materials and provide immigrant entrepreneurs with access to services, such as SUNY business development programs. 

The CEO of F1 Hire, Andrew Chen, praised Hochul’s plan and said it had “the potential to be a transformative force.” F1 Hire was founded to help overseas students in the US find jobs.