US losing tech talent to Canada

The US isn't catering to talented techies quite like Canada. So many entrepreneurs have given up on navigating the complicated US immigration system and are heading to Canada to launch their startups.

The most common way for immigrants to work in the U.S. is to obtain an H-1B visa (of which there are only 65,000 annually). The H-1B mandates employer sponsorship, so self-employed startup founders are pretty much out of luck. Advocates of immigration reform have pushed a startup visa, which would allow founders like Eunni to legally stay in the US. The Senate passed a version last year, but it stalled in the House. Canada, however, has been courting entrepreneurs and paving a way for citizenship through a startup visa program that launched in April 2013. The Canadian startup visa doesn't require employer sponsorship. Applicants need a minimum investment of $75,000 from a select Canadian angel investor or $200,000 from a select Canadian venture capital fund. (There are also a few additional requirements like language proficiency.) It grants a path to residency -- after three years, entrepreneurs can apply for citizenship. There are 2,750 available annually.