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Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jun 14, 2011
Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America Act of 2011 or the IDEA Act of 2011 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a priority worker immigrant visa for an alien who has a qualifying: (1) master's or higher degree in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM degree) from a U.S. institution of higher education; and (2) employment offer from a U.S. employer.
Eliminates the foreign residency requirement for certain foreign students.
Allows extensions of stay based upon a lengthy labor certification or priority adjudication for: (1) foreign students, (2) speciality occupation aliens, and (3) intracompany transfers.
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Establishes an immigrant visa category for qualifying venture capital-backed start-up entrepreneurs and for self-sponsored start-up entrepreneurs who intend to engage in, or have engaged in, new commercial enterprises in the United States.
Provides for the recapture of unused employment-based and family-based immigrant visas.
Exempts spouses and minor children from counting against numerical limits.
Revises per country (and dependent) area limits to: (1) eliminate employment-based limits, and (2) increase family-based limits.
Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese (PRC) immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.
Establishes in the Treasury the STEM Education and Training Account. Requires that 60% of Account funds be used for a STEM scholarship program for low-income U.S. students enrolled in degree programs in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
Authorizes certain undocumented higher education students who first entered the United States when they were 15 years old or younger to adjust to nonimmigrant student status.
Revises labor certification provisions, including: (1) requiring the Department of Labor to adjudicate an application within 120 days, (2) creating an Established U.S. Recruiter designation for recruiters who regularly recruit U.S. workers, and (3) authorizing a premium application processing fee.
Revises the prevailing wage level computation formula.
Revises H-1B visa (specialty occupation) provisions regarding: (1) wages, (2) U.S. worker displacement and protections, (3) recruitment requirements, (4) portability, (5) creation of a P-visa for fashion models in lieu of H-1B visa inclusion, (6) elimination of extensions for certain short-term workers, and (7) retention of petition priority date.
Revises L-visa (intracompany transferee) provisions regarding: (1) wage requirements for certain L-1B visa (specialized knowledge) employees, (2) investigations of complaints against employers, and (3) the blanket petition process for employers who hire large numbers of intracompany transferees.
Revises EB-5 employment creation investor provisions to: (1) require a visa set-aside for an employment creation regional center program, (2) provide a preapproval procedure for new commercial enterprises, (3) revise targeted employment area provisions, and (4) provide a limited extension for employers to meet program requirements.
Establishes in the Treasury the Immigrant Entrepreneur Account.
People & committees
Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-16] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Mar 23, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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