VisaNow, a Chicago tech company that makes the immigration process easier for people and businesses, recently raised another $5 million in funding from General Catalyst Partners.
The funding is an add-on investment from General Catalyst after it invested $16 million in the online immigration service platform in 2014. VisaNow says the funding will be used for continued marketing, sales and technology development. The company helps employers trying to secure top foreign talent, as well as families and individuals immigrating to the US, by making it easy to submit documents and providing attorneys who prepare and submit cases to the government.
VisaNow's additional funding comes as the United States prepares for what's likely to be a complete overhaul of its immigration policy under President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has made immigration one of his top issues during the election, with proposals ranging from a wall on the Mexico border, to deporting 11 million illegal immigrants, to temporarily banning Muslim immigrants from entering the US.
But VisaNow CEO Dick Burke said it's too early to tell exactly what impact a Trump presidency will have on his business, although based on what Trump has said on the campaign trail, Burke doesn't anticipate Trump's policies having a significant impact on the company.
"It's a bit too early, I think, to know exactly what a Trump presidency will mean," Burke said. "The council we’re giving all of our customers is, sit tight. We’re watching very closely, and when it becomes clear we will share that with you immediately."
Much of Trump's campaign rhetoric on immigration revolved around illegal immigration, Bruke said, noting that VisaNow operates in the legal immigration business.
"Our business is exclusively focused on legal immigration and helping employers secure the necessary work authorization to hire high-skilled talent," Burke said. "A lot of his statements as candidate Trump don’t have direct applicability to us."
But there are some areas where VisaNow could be impacted by Trump's potential immigration policy. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, citizens of Canada and Mexico can work in the United States in prearranged business activities for local or foreign employers under a TN visa. Trump has called NAFTA the "worst trade deal ever" and said he plans to end it, but has not specifically mentioned the TN visa.
The H1-B visa, a popular visa used by foreign employees at tech companies--especially upon graduating from US colleges--could be in jeopardy based on Trump's comments. He's flip flopped on this issue, but has said that it is "very bad for our workers and it’s unfair for our workers. And we should end it.”
Burke is hopeful that Trump's business acumen will help him and his advisors see the benefit of visas like the H1-B in terms of bringing high-skilled workers to the US and keeping them from taking their talents to oversees competitors. The US business community is largely driven by immigrants; 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants, and more than half of the country's unicorn startups were founded by immigrants.
"The question we have, and I think the question for the country is, if we believe in job growth, and if we believe in innovation, and if we believe in entrepreneurialism, how does that inform our immigration policy?"
VisaNow launched in 1998, and now employs around 100 people, Burke said.
Image by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Photo
