'Startup visa' for Expats “创业签证”正式签发 开启外籍人士创业新里程
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Marc Olivier, a 39-year-old French man, had worked in an advertising agency in Shanghai for a decade before deciding to start his own business earlier this year.
But then came the question many expats might have encountered: How would he obtain legal status－a visa allowing him to stay in China while self-employed－after quitting his job?
After consulting with an incubator based in Shanghai's Hongqiao area, Olivier found the answer to the question－an "entrepreneurship visa", which he soon applied for and obtained in August.
The incubator, K-Tech Hongqiao International Incubation Center in Shanghai, provides working space, finance options, company registration and, more important for Olivier, visa service.
Zhu Peiyi, the managing partner of the center, said that after consultation with the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau, the center's staff helped Olivier apply for the special residence permit for entrepreneurs.
"That's what people now call the 'entrepreneurship visa' or 'business startup visa'," Zhu said, adding that there are 20 startup companies working in the center, and one-third of them are foreign teams.
"Many foreign businessmen just didn't know that they were qualified for it, and after the news is out, many consulates have contacted us for more details," she added.
Since 2015, Shanghai has launched 25 pilot visa policies to streamline and simplify the foreigner 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 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.
Chinese-American Zhang Zheng is a professor of computer science at New York University Shanghai. Before joining the university's Shanghai campus, he was the founder of the System Research Group of Microsoft Research Asia, where he served as principal researcher and research area manager.
Since his expertise was needed by Amazon's Shanghai branch, Zhang was approached by the company to put the research into future products.
"Before, our visa policy didn't allow foreigners to hold two jobs, but ... Shanghai launched a talent visa program in May that made it possible," said Cai, from the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau.
Zhang got his new work permit on Sept 4, which allows him to work at both NYU Shanghai and Amazon.
Besides current students and professors, 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 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.
Cai said his department has issued 95 such entrepreneurship visas in the past three years.
"We hope this kind of residence permit will encourage talent and entrepreneurs to come to the city with their innovative ideas and plans," Cai said.
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.
"We will soon open a center for entry-exit and immigration affairs in Zhangjiang, providing one-stop services, from language training and job hunting to legal consultation," Cai said. "It's going to be the first of its kind in the country."
“创业签证”正式签发 开启外籍人士创业新里程
最近，上海发放了首张“创业签证”，法国创业者Marc Olivier（中文名：马克）成为获得这种签证的首位在沪外籍创业者。“创业签证”的全称为“私人事务类居留证件（加注‘创业’）”，是上海为推动外籍人士来华、来沪创业推出的入境便利政策措施。
这项新政策惠及的人群包括：有在沪创新创业意愿并在我国高校毕业的应届外籍留学生、计划来沪投资或创新创业的外国人、国内重点高校或境外知名高校毕业未满两年并在沪创新创业的外籍优秀毕业生。
去年初，虹桥国际创业服务中心（KTech国创中心）从各驻华领馆了解到，海外人才来华创业存在落地痛点，于是积极推进创业签证的签发流程。在长宁区人力资源和社会保障局的支持下，长宁区近日在上海率先试行“创业签证”服务窗口。虹桥国际创业服务中心则发挥“一站式”服务优势，为来沪、来长宁创业的外籍人士提供便利服务。
据虹桥国际创业服务中心工作人员介绍，马克是一名在上海工作多年的法国创意人，今年初辞去工作，开始了创业生涯。没有一份稳定的工作，签证就成了他留在中国所面临的最大问题。
了解到马克的需求后，长宁区人社局和虹桥国际创业服务中心高度重视，指定专人负责，提前介入，向他介绍了申请“创业签证”与通过驻法使领馆办理签证的区别。这个法国小伙得知办理“创业签证”十分便捷后，决定成为上海首位“吃螃蟹”的外籍人士。虹桥国际创业服务中心审核了他的创业项目并收集了他的所有签证材料。马克递交材料后仅5个工作日，就拿到了上海首张“创业签证”。
帅气的马克说，能在这么短的时间里办理好签证，他十分高兴，这解决了他在上海创业的后顾之忧。他还表示，这项政策对外国人在中国创业大有裨益。
据悉，除了符合特定的惠及人群要求外，“创业签证”还要求外籍创业者有完整的创业计划，并需出具由经济开发区、高新技术园区或众创空间、孵化器等专业平台出具的创新创业证明。
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