I live in Silicon Valley and I’m an immigrant. My journey to the U.S. began 11 years ago. Unlike my other immigrant friends, I didn’t have to depend on H1B visa. It took 4.5 years of endless paper work, finger prints, immunizations and a lot of patience to finally get my greencard. In that 4.5 years, I had to reapply because immigration lost my case file, and I wasn’t allowed to leave the country unless I applied for “immigrant advance parole”. Seriously, it was a hellish process but I can’t complain because I’m one of the few lucky ones.

Some years ago, my ex-husband and I decided to go separate ways and along with it, he also took half of my assets. Many felt sorry for me but I continued to think I’m lucky because the freedom to live in this country is priceless, especially for an entrepreneur. I grew up in Singapore and briefly lived in London, I have many other options and a diverse international exposure but I chose to stay here. This is why.

The one common thing startups need is MONEY. Other countries have cleverly used this as a bait, not only to attract their own nationals to return to their home country but also made it really easy for foreigners to launch their startups by providing lucrative incentives like low corporate tax, free office space, super attractive funding options/subsidies, dynamic English-speaking workforce and the ease of getting work authorization. While the American government doesn’t have the same fiscal policies or cash reserve to compete with other nations, America has one key ingredient that other countries lack - the entrepreneurial culture and camaraderie. This is the core foundation of the American Dream that fuels America’s unbeatable innovation. It’s the same spirit and camaraderie that brought together many entrepreneurs and investors like Paul Grahma, Brad Feld, Dave McClure, Shaherose Charania and team to create and garner support for the Startup Visa Movement.

Over the 11 years in the U.S., I’ve grown and learned so much from other entrepreneurs and advisors who are so generous in sharing their experiences and advice. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is so strong and it’s natural for all who have been on the startup journey to give back in one way or another. This is the reason why I chose to stay in America. It’s the best environment to launch Closet Couture and Love With Food. The entrepreneurial culture is America’s greatest intangible asset and a national treasure. It draws entrepreneurs all around the world to come here because it allows innovation to proliferate and in return, create jobs. This is what other countries lack but trying hard to replicate.

If Congress is able to create different variations of H1B visas (e.g. H1B1 that took effect in 2004 as part of Free Trade Agreement), I sincerely hope Congress is able to see that creating a new class of visa for immigrant entrepreneurs is just as or even more important and urgent. While other nations have surprisingly recovered from the recession, their desire to attract startups away from America may shake the core foundation of the great American entrepreneurial culture. Creating a new class of visa for immigrant entrepreneur would be an ideal defensive move.

Interested to help? Send a letter to Congress by clicking on “Tweet Congress” below. To find out more about Startup Visa, click here.