A January 2025 USCIS policy update confirmed that a founder-owned company may petition for an O-1 visa on behalf of its founder. USCIS data show an O-1A approval rate of approximately 94% across adjudicated cases, although that overall rate does not predict the outcome of an individual founder's petition. The O-1A has no annual cap or lottery. For the International Entrepreneur Rule (parole), the qualifying investment threshold rose to $311,071 as of October 2024, and a new $1,000 parole fee took effect October 16, 2025, with annual inflation adjustments starting in FY 2026. Parole runs for up to 2.5 years and may be renewed once, for a maximum of five years.
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O-1A stays the top founder visa; Entrepreneur Parole thresholds and fees rise
Why this matters for founders
As a founder you may be able to self-sponsor via O-1A through your own startup, a cap-free, lottery-free route worth exploring before betting on H-1B. The same O-1 logic helps when you recruit exceptional international talent (researchers, senior engineers) without the lottery. Entrepreneur Parole remains a fallback but stays rarely granted and gives no green-card path, so treat it as a bridge, not a destination.
Source: Alma (tryalma.com)
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