District Court Vacates Delay of International Entrepreneur Rule

On December 1, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion to vacate the delay of the start date of the International Entrepreneur Rule(IER). This rule was set to take effect on July 17, 2017. It would have allowed foreign entrepreneurs, who are not eligible for existing visa categories or unable to stay in the U.S. due to numerical caps, to stay in the U.S. to grow their business. The Department of Homeland Security(DHS) issued a new rule right before the IER’s effective date, delaying the implementation of the IER and announcing its intention to rescind the IER. The new rule was issued without providing notice or soliciting comment from the public, as the Administrative Procedure Act requires.


The American Immigration Council then filed a lawsuit on behalf of prospective entrepreneur applicants challenging the delay. The complaint seeks to compel DHS to implement the rule and to start to accept and process parole applications from international entrepreneurs. The Court found postponing the implementation of the IER costs foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to obtain parole and there is no basis for DHS’ claims that implementation costs or public “confusion” were good cause for noncompliance with the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice and comment requirements. Therefore, the Court refused to consider any further delay of the IER’s implementation.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the International Entrepreneur Rule.

Categories: Immigration News