Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR)

 What is EIR?

On October 11, 2011, USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced a new initiative to harness industry expertise from the public and private sectors that will increase the job creation potential of employment-based and high-skilled visa categories. Called ‘Entrepreneurs in Residence’, the initiative builds upon a series of policy, operational, and outreach efforts within the framework of existing immigration laws. This program supports the White House and Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) efforts in growing the U.S. economy and creating American jobs.  

 USCIS EIR Initiative

We launched EIR with an Information Summit in Moffett Field, Calif.   At the Summit, stakeholders provided strategic thinking on USCIS policies and practices related to immigrant entrepreneurs, and shared their business expertise with the agency. 

The EIR initiative consists of a tactical team comprised of outside experts working alongside USCIS staff. Over the course of 90 days, the EIR team will focus on optimizing the range of existing visa categories used by entrepreneurs to provide pathways that are clear, consistent and aligned with business realities.

EIR Focus

EIR will focus on assessing current policies, practices, and training across the following nonimmigrant visa classifications:

• B, Temporary Visitors for Business
• H-1B, Specialty Occupations
• E-1, Treaty Traders
• E-2, Treaty Investors
• L-1, Intracompany Transferees
• O-1, Extraordinary Ability

EIR Background

The EIR initiative allows federal agencies to engage with outside experts who bring state-of-the art thinking in business processes, innovation and information technology. USCIS is the second federal agency to embrace the EIR model. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first piloted an EIR model focused on medical devices. 

Using the DHS Loaned Executive Program to stand up EIR, USCIS sought external experts including entrepreneurs, business leaders, and academics to work in-house reviewing USCIS policies, practices and training. As one of the first federal agencies to embrace this tool for government innovation, USCIS will focus this inaugural initiative on immigrant entrepreneurs. Internal experts for the tactical team come from across the agency and include policy and legal experts as well as seasoned operations and fraud professionals.