U.S. senators propose new visa type for foreign entrepreneurs

Two U.S. senators proposed on Wednesday a bill that would create a new type of visa for foreign entrepreneurs who plan to create job opportunities for Americans.

The legislation, titled "StartUp Visa Act," was raised by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator Richard Lugar, suggesting to grant a type of two-year visa to foreigners who can prove they are going to invest at least 250,000 U.S. dollars in America.

The immigrant entrepreneurs can apply for the visa if their businesses would "create not fewer than five new full-time jobs in the United States, employing people other than the immigrant's spouse, sons or daughters," says the legislation." Global competition for talent and investment grows more intense daily and the United States must step up or be left behind."

Kerry is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and Lugar is the most senior Republican on the committee.

According to the bill, foreign entrepreneurs who hold the new type of visa can apply for permanent U.S. residency if they can continue to attract at least a million dollars or earn at least a million dollars in revenue.

Since the economic crisis in 2008, the U.S. government has been struggling to contain the unemployment rate under 10 percent. Job creation has become the issue Americans concern most and topped Obama administration's agenda in 2010.