§ Immigration

Startup visa

also called entrepreneur visa · founder visa

A residence route for founders launching a qualifying business in a country.

Golden visaTalent visaWork permitWork visaStartup visa
Solid lines are terms people actually mix up with Startup visa. The rest sit in the same subject, working for a local employer. Golden visa · Talent visa · Work permit · Work visa

Right, in plain English

A startup visa is a residence route for founders who come to build a qualifying business in a country. It is aimed at company-builders, which sets it apart from a freelance visa meant for solo self-employed workers serving clients. It usually asks for a solid business plan and sometimes money to invest, so it is more demanding than just showing you have freelance income.

You want to move somewhere and grow your software company, so you look at its startup visa. Rather than just proving you earn a living, you have to submit a business plan that a panel judges viable and show funding behind it, which is a higher bar than a freelance visa would have set.

Why it matters

It suits nomads building a company locally, but usually demands a viable business plan and sometimes investment.

Working for a local employer · 4 terms

These are the visas and papers for taking a job with a local company, as opposed to earning from abroad.
A work visa gets you in to work, a work permit is the permission to take paid local employment, and a talent visa or startup visa are routes for in-demand skills or founding a business.
In the Philippines the AEP is the labour department's work permit, the ACR I-Card is the biometric foreigner ID that goes with it, and the annual report is the yearly in-person check-in that ID carries.

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