Entrepreneurship visas now available to foreigners at technology incubators in Shanghai
September 18, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Foreigners who want to quit their regular jobs and start a new company had difficulties in the past to obtain a visa to stay in China while self-employed. Tech incubators in Shanghai, including the K-Tech Hongqiao International Incubation Center, which already provides working space, finance options, company registration and other services, can now also assist foreigners setting up their own company to obtain an entrepreneurship or business startup visa and residence permit. One-third of the 20 startup companies working in the center were set up by foreigners.
Since 2015, Shanghai has launched 25 pilot visa policies to streamline and simplify foreigner’s visa application process and to diversify the visa types to better fit the demand, said Cai Baodi, chief of the foreigner visa management division at the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau. Among the 25 pilot visa policies, four are directly linked to foreigners opening businesses in the city. These include issuing visas that allow current international students in Chinese colleges to start businesses in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone, and allow foreign technological specialists or college professors to commercialize their research in those areas. A new talent visa program now also allows foreigners to hold two jobs concurrently, which wasn’t previously allowed. Graduates with a degree from the world’s top 300 universities ranked by the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University can also get the “entrepreneurship visa” within two years of graduation to live and work in Shanghai. Foreign entrepreneurs with a business plan and documents proving their investment and source of income can also apply.
A total of 95 entrepreneurship visas were issued in Shanghai in the past three years. Compared with a business visa, which allows the holder to stay in China no longer than six months, the permit for entrepreneurs is valid for one year with multiple entries and can be extended to a maximum of two years. A new center for entry-exit and immigration affairs will open soon in Zhangjiang, providing one-stop services, from language training and job hunting to legal consultation. It will be the first of its kind in the country, the China Daily reports.
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