2015 is a good time to be an entrepreneur!

Ireland just reformed their immigration system to lower the minimum funding requirement to apply to the visa, and have passed a law to make it easy to recruit foreign talents for startups (the trusted partner initiative) in hope to better attract global global talent to its tech industry.

Italy and Spain have introduced fast-track visas for innovative startups and entrepreneurs.

Similarly, Denmark and Netherlands have just launched their start-up visas in January 2015. France announced the equivalent of a startup visa with the FrenchTech Ticket – a six-months incubation program in english and in paris for foreign entrepreneurs.

Comparing 12 existing start-up visas

Because the topic of immigration is a complex one, we put all of the information in one giant infographic below.

If you read the graph above and compare, you will notice interesting things:

• The “cheapest” Entrepreneur visa is in Chile where you are not asked to bring investment to the country, quite the opposite: they provide you with funding! This said, it does not mean it is easy to get because you will have to get accepted in the very selective Startup Chile Accelerator.

• Only Canada offers a permanent resident visa. All other countries provide only a temporary visa to Entrepreneurs. It positions Canada Entrepreneur visa as the most welcoming. For European countries such as Spain or Italy, the visa is a temporary one but easily renewable.

• Funding requirement varies across countries and still some similarities can be exposed:

In most case, applicants  accepted in an accelerator recognised by the country state will not need to show funds to apply to the visa.

Exception made of the UK which offers to “lower” the minimum amount of initial investment applicants have to show if they are accepted by one of the UK recognised accelerator.

Overall a general 50K Euros is asked in Europe as proof of funds and it echoes the 50K pounds asked in the UK.

• Italy created a complete welcome package along its Italian startup visa: not only it creates a fast track but it provides guidance for foreigners and local contacts to support the growth of the business. Innovative business can benefit from major tax breaks opportunities; and startups are invited to join a supportive local system of incubators. Italy is definitely trying to compete with the UK eco-system and its network of leading accelerators.

Download Migreat report comparing Entrepreneur Visa schemes worldwide for free and ask your visa questions to immigration experts on Migreat.com.