Vietnamese Businesspeople Are Achieving 100% Success Immigrating to the USA with Empowered Startups and Harvey Law Group

Vietnamese Businesspeople Are Achieving 100% Success Immigrating to the USA with Empowered Startups and Harvey Law Group

Empowered Startups and international law firm Harvey Law Group (HLG) have partnered to identify, vet, and select accomplished Vietnamese businesspeople who want to conduct R&D backed startup ventures that are in the national interest of the United States. Since 2015, Empowered Startups and Harvey Law Group have successfully worked together on many projects and have assisted numerous Vietnamese businesspeople both in launching startup ventures and in securing fast track residency in the USA, Canada, Portugal, and France.

Harvey Law Group’s Founder and Managing Partner, Jean-Francois Harvey, has been extremely impressed with Empowered Startups’ efficiency and effectiveness.

Empowered Startups is by far the world’s most competent and well-run startup incubator we have ever worked with,” states Harvey. “Empowered’s integrity and adherence to contracts and promises made is unsurpassed. We have complete confidence that Empowered Startups will always act with our clients’ best interests leading all decisions.”

The relationship between the two companies has produced excellent results in recent years, a point reinforced by Empowered Startups’ Founder and Chairman, Paul Girodo.

“In Vietnam, we have been lucky to find, and then incubate, incredible entrepreneurial business talent and their R&D pursuits in the USA,” illustrated Girodo, who points to growth in Empowered Startups EB-2 NIW Startup Investor Program as reason to believe that success will multiply. “We are now seeing significant numbers of businesspeople choose our EB-2 NIW Startup Investor Program over EB-5 Investor schemes,” he revealed. “The EB-2 NIW Startup Investor Program has dramatically less risk, has much faster processing decisions, and is a fraction of the price of EB-5. Smart Vietnamese businesspeople are choosing Empowered’s EB-2 NIW Startup Investor Program.

To date, all applicants accepted into Empowered Startups’ USA program have received expedited priority processing from United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS), a major advantage when compared to other immigration programs. For example, a recent Vietnamese client was accepted into Empowered Startups’ incubator, and once her application was prepared and submitted to USCIS, her EB2 National Interest Waiver Green Card was approved in only six working days with priority processing.

Empowered Startups has been tasked by numerous research institutions in the USA, to select, incubate, and commercialize high potential research and development-backed startups. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, Empowered Startups works with leading US research institutions across the USA to advance the research pursuits of those institutions, while at the same time growing startup ecosystems in America’s targeted economic areas by advancing the startup commercialization ambitions of Vietnamese businesspeople.

Find out more about the EB-2 NIW Startup Investor Program https://empoweredstartups.com/eb2-startup-investor-program/

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

USA EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) Visa: The Proof is in the Processing

USA EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) Visa: The Proof is in the Processing

The United States remains a desirable destination for professionals who are looking to immigrate and invest in their future. There are several ways to turn that desire into reality, including the EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) Visa. While the USA’s EB-5 Visa has received much more attention in recent years (not all of it wanted), the EB-2 NIW Visa is far superior in most regards, including in its speed of processing.

When choosing to move to and open a business in a new country, being left in limbo while awaiting a decision on a visa application is both frustrating and unnerving. Fortunately, the use of premium processing with Empowered Startups’ EB-2 NIW Startup Investor program eliminates the uncertainty that all too often accompanies the EB-5 Visa process. By using premium processing, EB-2 NIW Startup Investor applicants know the status of their submission within 45 days of it being received by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In fact, the response from USCIS often comes much faster than that benchmark, as proven by one of our recently approved candidates from Vietnam.

Our client came to Empowered Startups with an accomplished business background and clearly warranted entry to the US without jumping through all the EB-5 hoops. After working with Empowered Startups to complete all necessary requirements for her EB-2 NIW Visa application, she submitted her comprehensive package with the confidence she would receive a response within 45 days. Our client didn’t have to wait nearly that long; she was notified in 7 days.   

As is often the case with NIW applications, USCIS’s first response is typically to ask a few further questions about the research project and commercialization plan submitted. This is one of the filtering techniques they seem to use routinely and another place where Empowered Startups fits critically into the process. USCIS did that in this case also, and after receiving our detailed responses to those questions, approved the file in an additional 6 days.

In a nutshell, one initial comprehensive application package, one submission responding to a few questions about the application, total processing time by USCIS: 13 days.

No waiting around, no phone calls to automated systems, no uncertainty in finding out the status of her visa application. With Empowered Startups and the EB-2 NIW Startup Investor program, our client experienced the professionalism, support and efficiency that an entrepreneur should expect when embarking on an exciting journey in a new country.

Premium processing and the peace of mind that comes with it is just one of the many advantages the EB-2 NIW Startup Investor program has over the turbulent EB-5 Visa program. To learn more about those advantages and the EB-2 NIW Startup Investor program, visit https://empoweredstartups.com/eb2-startup-investor-program/

Pivoting for Prosperity in Portugal: Empowered’s HQA Featured on IMIDaily

Pivoting for Prosperity in Portugal: Empowered’s HQA Featured on IMIDaily

Pivoting for Prosperity in Portugal is the most recent topic of discussion on IMI Daily. Empowered Startups’ most recent piece of thought leadership outlines the proposed end of the non-Habitual Residency (NHR) tax, and the elimination of the real estate core of Portugal’s Golden Visa program. The truth is, transnational entrepreneurs are well positioned to benefit from the country’s policies both at present and in the future.

Read the full feature here on IMI Daily 

Chris Lennon Featured on IMI Daily

Chris Lennon Featured on IMI Daily

President and General Counsel of Empowered Startups, Chris Lennon, is the most recent subject of IMI Daily’s “10 On The Weekend” feature that provides further insight into notable professionals in the world of migration through investment.

Investment Migration Insider is an industry-leading hub for the latest news, trends and opinions on immigration through investment.  Lennon responded to the ten recurring questions for the feature, which grants readers a more personal and informal view of prominent figures within the industry.

As part of the wide-ranging Q & A, Lennon shed light on why Empowered Startups continues to garner international attention from governments and entrepreneurs alike for its innovative approach to business migration. The article has him revealing everything from his business goals for the upcoming year to the industry accomplishment he’s most proud of to his unique reading genre.

Read the full feature here 

 

Top Five Reasons to Pivot from H-1B Visa to the Start Up Visa in Canada

Top Five Reasons to Pivot from H-1B Visa to the Start Up Visa in Canada

In July, the Canadian government announced a new option for H-1B visa holders in the US to receive expedited work permits to live and work in Canada for at least three years. The new program opened to 10,000 applicants for the year, but within 24 hours, the new program had met its quota. This means thousands of people didn’t get an opportunity to even apply for the program.

Alternative to the H-1B Visa in the US

There are, however, other ways for H-1B visa holder in the United States to make their way to Canada, without worrying about the latest visa caps. By pivoting to the Start Up Visa program, and partnering with Empowered Startups, H-1B visa holders will have even better opportunities to live and work in Canada and bring their families with them. Here are the top five reasons H-1B visa holders should consider the Start Up Visa program:

    • Immigration policies in the United States are changing the likelihood you’ll be approved for an H-1B visa. While popular for years, only 14.6% of all applicants for the Fiscal 2024 year will be approved according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) figures. More than 780,000 applications were submitted.
    • The Start Up Visa for Canada hasn’t hit any caps so the likelihood of getting approval is much higher than in the United States.
    • Bring your family with you to settle in Canada – with universal healthcare for permanent residents and citizens, a culture of diversity and inclusion, and excellent public education, it’s the perfect place to bring your business.
    • Canada’s recently launched Tech Talent Strategy is providing additional resources to attract tech talent from around the world.
    • Empowered Startups can help you through the whole process from applications through successful incubation of your business. With more than a decade of experience, Empowered Startups is ready to help you achieve your business goals!

With less and less certainty of getting approved for an H-1B visa in the United States, the Start Up Visa in Canada is a viable and exciting option for entrepreneurs around the world. Find out how Empowered Startups can help you apply today.

Emerging Technology Aims to Predict the Probability of Wildfires

Emerging Technology Aims to Predict the Probability of Wildfires

Seattle, Washington – July 31, 2023 – With Canada facing the worst fire season in 100 years, and the US not faring any better, solutions to combat our changing climate threats would be welcome reprieve. Thankfully, one of Empowered Startups’ entrepreneurs is working on a system to help with early detection and prevention through innovative technology.

Through Empowered Startups’ EB2 Startup Visa program, and in partnership with the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the University of Washington (UW), founder Yomi Bakare mentored a team of six UW undergraduate students enrolled in the department’s capstone program during a five-month period in planning, strategizing, and building an early quadrotor prototype.

The R&D project aimed to build a quadrotor prototype that can be used by governments and agencies to predict, identify, and/or manage increasingly frequent and powerful climate disasters using Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies. Specifically, the quadrotor prototype would be designed to combat forest fires by gathering specific data points using build-in sensors and processing this data using software to decode the probability and risk severity of an event.

In this first round of R&D to reach a minimum viable product, the undergraduate team at the UW was able to create the framework of interconnected systems for quadrotor function, build out the avionics architecture connecting the sensors, battery power and remote control mechanism into a centralized system, and test several system components conducive to the quadrotor’s flight carrying a payload of equipment that would serve to send important data back to a ground control system and sustain battery power.

“The project is a timely initiative, as evidenced by the current global climate challenges the world is facing. Any attempt to provide potential mitigations to these climate challenges deserves to receive the attention and support of academia, civil organizations, businesses, and governments. We must take care of this planet for our collective well-being,” says Bakare.

The end goal of Mr. Bakare’s R&D is to have a commercially viable unmanned aerial vehicle prototype that will:

  • Be remotely controlled to fly beyond line of visual sight with suitable endurance to areas of potential wildfires;
  • Have built-in sensors and cameras that can detect, gather, and transmit environmental data in real-time into a remote cloud for processing;
  • Have accompanying software that will receive real-time data from the built-in sensors and cameras from the remote cloud and process that data using sophisticated predesigned algorithms to predict wildfires.

So, what’s next for Yomi Bakare and the quadrotor? He is continuing to work on the prototype with hopes of completion in the near future.

“We will continue to collaborate with value-adding partners to enable us to bring the project to market within the possible shortest time frame. Work continues to refine the aerial vehicle and develop the accompanying software,” Bakare shares. “We will also work to ‘harden the UAV airframe’ to be able to handle extreme temperatures and accelerate the development of the software for predicting the probability of wildfires.”

Learn more about the EB2 Startup Visa program today.