An immigration case that has been featured prominently in the news over the past week highlights some of the issues currently plaguing our system. This should help illustrate for our readers here in Ohio just how damaged the investor visa program is at this point.
ABC World News last week reported on the story of 22-year old Israeli national Amit Aharoni. Aharoni, a graduate of Stanford Business School, was able to land more than $1.65 million in capital to launch an online company that helped customers book cruises
Aharoni's company, CruiseWise.com, already employed nine Americans and was mentioned by Business Insider as one of the country's hottest startups. Aharoni said his hope was that CruiseWise could create hundred of jobs in the San Francisco area.
But on Oct. 4 Aharoni received notice from the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services that his request for a visa had been denied and he would need to leave the country. The explanation USCIS gave was that his position as CEO of CruiseWise did not require somebody with his high level of eduction.
Aharoni called the denial "humiliating" and was forced to run the company from friend's home in Canada using Skype. He thought the denial meant that he would have to take his company - and its potential for job creation - to a country "where I can rely on sensible immigration policy."
But on Wednesday, one day after ABC's story aired, Aharoni got an email from the USCIS telling him his petition has been reconsidered and was now eligible to operate in the U.S.
It is ultimately a positive that Aharoni was allowed to work in the country. Keeping his company and its potential to create American jobs here is the right decision.
But the problem is that Aharoni was denied his visa in the first place. This is exactly the kind of entrepreneur the U.S. should be encouraging, the kind of person with the potential to create the next Intel or Google. How did the system miss the need for him to have a visa?
It's also alarming that it required media attention for the right outcome to be reached. How many other mistakes are being made?
