Through a fast track to obtain a visa, Italy attracts new entrepreneurs

The current procedures, to whom an extra-UE citizen is subjected to obtain self-employment visa[1], are complex and cumbersome.
For these reasons and in order to attract in Italy new talents of innovation area, the legislator, starting from the measures included in the package “Destinazione Italia”, has implemented a new and faster procedure to obtain visas for self-employment workers, who meet certain characteristics.
This new program, known as “Italia Start Up Visa”, operational since June 2014, has some original and characteristic aspects that modernize and accelerate the procedure.

First of all, the process is completely digitalized, free and bilingual; indeed the concerned subject may submit the documentation, discussed further below, in Italian or in English only by email, bypassing the various steps, to be carried out by an attorney at the Chambers of Commerce or at the Police Headquarters in order to obtain the authorizations and the certificates necessary for granting the visa.
As mentioned above, the procedure is completely centralized, the only interlocutor is the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, that, through the program secretariat, manages the communications with the other Administrations involved. Finally, the issue of the visa is clearly faster than the ordinary one, the procedure has to be closed within 30 days from the submission of the application.
This procedure is strictly connected to various facilities provided for to promote the strategic field of Innovative Start up. Indeed the foreign, who wants to obtain the abovementioned visa, has to commit himself to set up or work for a new company, which meets the requirements provided for by the Law Decree no. 179/2012[2] (related to Innovative Startup).

The procedure is divided into three phases: in the first, the submission of the application,  the applicant has to submit a detailed form with the personal data as well as the future Startup’s business plan, a  certificate of financial resources of an amount of Euro 50.000[3] minimum and the passport.
Later there is an evaluation phase[4]. If  concluded successfully, the authorization to the visa will be sent to the applicant, within 30 days from the submission of the application.  Finally, to complete the procedure, the applicant shall present himself to the competent diplomatic-consular office, within 3 months from the release of the authorization, to pick up his visa, with a duration of one year.
The Italia Startup Visa Program has been launched by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, inter alia, for the purpose of increasing the Italian competitiveness to attract innovative company, seeing the competition of other Countries that had already introduced similar procedure. The program has been quite successful until now[5]; 341 applications has been submitted since 2014, with an approval rate of 54,8% and they led to the entry in Italy of 187 extra-UE citizens, generally young and more than 90% of them have university degrees.

[1] Procedures essentially regulated by art. 26 of the Legislative Decree no. 286/1998 (Immigration Consolidated Act), by art. 29 of the Presidential Decree no. 394/1999 (Regulation implementing Legislative Decree o. 286/1998) and by the Ministerial Decree no. 850/2011.
[2] The so called “Growth Decree 2.0” provides for various facilitations for the companies, that meets requirements such as: to be set up for less than 5 years, to be based in Italy, the main object is to be  development, production or trade of innovative, high-tech products or services etc.
[3] These resources can originate from entrepreneur’s own funds, if liquid, and from financing by third parties or from a combination of both the above. The abovementioned financial resources are higher than the ones required by the ordinary procedure. To obtain the ordinary visa, the extra-UE entrepreneurs has to submit to the Chamber of Commerce: the authorization of the Police Headquarters and documentary evidence of adequacy of housing, an annual income higher than Euro 5.824,91 and an amount of financial assets of Euro 17.474,73.
[4] The Program Secretariat undertakes a formal evaluation, while the Italia Startup Visa Technical Committee evaluates the merits.
[5] As resulting from the first quarterly report of 2018 from Italian Ministry of Economic Development: http://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/startupvisa_primo_%20rapporto_trimestrale_2018.pdf.