Almost a quarter of US tech start-ups were founded by immigrants, according to a new report by the Kauffman Foundation, but this figure is actually in decline, renewing calls for a start-up visa.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The report, titled America\u2019s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Then and Now<\/i>, evaluated the rate of immigrant entrepreneurship from 2006 to 2012.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It shows the proportion of immigrant-founded companies in the US has fallen from 25.3% to 24.3% since 2005.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interestingly, the decline is even more pronounced in Silicon Valley, where the percentage of immigrant-founded start-ups has fallen from 52.4% to 43.9%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Dane Stangler, director of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, the unwelcoming immigration system in the US has created a \u201creverse brain drain\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTo maintain a dynamic economy, the US needs to embrace immigrant entrepreneurs,\u201d Stangler said in a statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vivek Wadha, director of research at the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialisation at Duke University, is one of the report\u2019s authors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wadha believes the US can reverse this trend \u201cif it acts swiftly\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is imperative that we create a start-up visa for these entrepreneurs and expand the number of green cards for skilled foreigners to work in these start-ups,\u201d Wadha said in a statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMany immigrants would gladly remain in the United States to start and grow companies that will lead to jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year, three US senators reintroduced legislation to help immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the US.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Startup Visa Act of 2011 would allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two-year visa if he or she can show that a qualified US investor is willing to invest in their start-up venture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Startup Visa enjoys bipartisan support, US President Barack Obama has not been aggressive in pushing it forward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Obama\u2019s Republican rival Mitt Romney has promised to put in place an immigration reform system, although it\u2019s unknown whether that would include the Startup Visa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The news comes just a few weeks after the STEM Visa Bill was scrapped.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The STEM Visa Bill would have allowed foreign students with advanced degrees in science and engineering, from US universities, to remain in the country.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bill needed a two-thirds vote \u2013 about 290 ayes \u2013 for approval. But at 257-158, it fell short.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n