Irish Start-up Entrepreneur Programme | An Incomplete Guide
Overview:
Since 2012, Ireland has launched the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP), which allows entrepreneurs with business experience and innovative business plans to establish, operate, and develop companies locally.
After Ireland canceled the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) in 2023, the start-up visa is currently the only feasible investment immigration option in Ireland.
To apply for an Irish start-up visa, you need to meet the following five requirements:
1. Be at least 18 years old, be in good health, and have no criminal record.
2. Want to start a business in Ireland, have an innovative business plan, and this plan should benefit the Irish economy.
For the STEP program, the applicant must actively manage the company. If the business is simply established to obtain passive income from property investments or financial product dividends, the application will not be approved.
3. Have at least 50,000 euros as start-up capital. Regarding start-up capital, during the approval process, you must provide a bank endorsement to prove that the funds have been in your account for at least 3 months and can be converted into euros and transferred to Ireland.
4. The business you engage in cannot belong to the retail, healthcare, or personal services industries.
5. You need to purchase health insurance that covers Ireland.
If your business has the ability to create more than 10 jobs locally, achieve over 1 million euros in revenue within 3 years, and meet other requirements related to innovation and leadership credibility, you can directly apply for the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) visa.
Application Process:
The Irish start-up visa can be applied for entirely online.
To apply, you need to fill out an application form, convert all required documents into PDF format, and email them to startup@justice.ie. Additionally, you need to pay a visa fee of 350 euros.
The required documents for this program include:
- Applicant’s Identity Documents: This includes all valid passports of the primary and secondary applicants; passport-sized photos; and proof of relationship documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates.
- Personal Resume: The primary applicant needs to provide a resume detailing their educational background and work information.
- Business Plan.
- Bank Endorsement: You need to provide a bank statement proving that you have had at least 50,000 euros in your account for the past three months and that the funds can be converted into euros and freely transferred to Ireland.
- No Criminal Record Proof: All primary and secondary applicants must provide certificates of no criminal record from law enforcement agencies for any region where they have lived for more than six months in the past ten years.
- Proof of Health Insurance Purchase: The primary applicant needs to purchase valid health insurance in Ireland for each primary and secondary applicant every year.
All documents from outside Ireland must be notarized; all non-English documents must be translated into English.
An independent evaluation committee from Enterprise Ireland (EI) will review all your documents and decide whether to issue the visa. During the review period, they may ask you for some supporting documents.
Notification of approval will be sent via email. After that, you can freely go to Ireland to live and work.
The entire STEP start-up project process generally takes about 12 to 16 weeks to complete.
Dependents:
Irish start-up visa allows the main applicant’s spouse or partner and children under 18 to also obtain visas as dependents.
Visa Duration:
The Irish start-up visa is valid for two years and can be extended for three years depending on the company’s development.
Foreigners holding immigration visas under Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 who have legally resided in Ireland for five years, with a total absence of no more than six months per year, are eligible to apply for permanent residency in Ireland.
Foreigners who have legally resided in Ireland for five years within the past nine years, continuously lived in Ireland for the year prior to the application (with absences not exceeding 70 days), and meet other conditions, are eligible to apply for Irish citizenship.
Official Links:
Irish Start-up Visa：https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-work-in-ireland/what-are-my-options-for-working-in-ireland/coming-to-work-for-more-than-90-days/start-up-entrepreneur-programme-step/
Irish STEP Guidelines：https://www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/STEP-Guidelines-Sep-2023.pdf