On Thursday, September 19th, 2013 Columbia Engineering and Columbia Entrepreneurship presented
Immigration & Entrepreneurship: Pathways for International Students to Create New Ventures – And Jobs – in the U.S.
Some helpful links:
– General FAQ about the E visas for entrepreneurs link E visas
– General FAQ F-1 Student unauthorized employment visas
Event Description:
America has always attracted the world’s greatest young minds to elite universities and often encourages them to apply their educations to starting new businesses — and creating jobs. The rub comes when immigration laws require recent grads to leave the country just as their businesses are taking off and their student visas expiring.
Please see the video (posting soon) of this panel discussion and practical exploration of the issues, solutions and the case histories of two Columbia-educated entrepreneurs.
Sriram Swaminathan ‘12SIPA, Director of International Programs at the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Center for Economic Transformation, will lead the discussion.
Dan Berger, ESQ Partner Curran & Berger LLP Immigration Law Office, will join the panel along with two young Columbia entrepreneurs. Born outside the US and educated at Columbia, Jean Meyer ‘11BUS and Kajal Sanghrajka ‘12BUS are growing their businesses and creating jobs in New York. The panel illustrates how they – and hundreds like them – are working through the immigration system while launching their ventures.
Born in Vitry sur Seine, France Jean Meyer is a 2011 graduate of Columbia Business School. He also holds an MA in computer engineering from UTBM, France and is an engineer specialized in web technologies. Mr. Meyer co-founded DateMySchool in 2010 with fellow Columbia Business School Balazs Alexa. Today the site’s has 340,000 alumni and student users from over 2,000 universities.
Born in London, England, Kajal Sanghrajka is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science and an alumna of the Columbia Business School. Immediately after graduation Ms. Sanghrajka launched Kajal London Eyewear a distributor of one-of-kind, curated selections of vintage and designer European eyewear brands to high end retailers across the US.