Boom! Silicon Roundabout is coming for you Silicon Valley.

Well, now you’ll see me regularly!

There is browser war, OS war, mobile platform war and now Hmm, can we call this Startup Visa war. Any war its good for entrepreneurs. I wish laws in various countries were more favourable for entrepreneurs. After all, entrepreneurs create jobs even though they amass lots of wealth for themselves if they succeed.

This is a really big deal for us. I’m American and my co-founder is British. We’ve been working together for over a year on both sides of the pond, but visas are becoming a major hassle. Although we wanted to set up shop in America, a law like this means it’s much easier to start in the UK given our situation.

This is a really big deal for us. I’m American and my co-founder is British. We’ve been working together for over a year on both sides of the pond, but visas are becoming a major hassle. Although we wanted to set up shop in America, a law like this means it’s much easier to start in the UK given our situation.

“Plus, entrepreneurs will be allowed to enter the UK with their business partners as long as they have access to joint funds.”

Let me, guess, the “business partner” will be the spouse of the “entrepreneur” and the “reputable organisation” will be his cousin. All from the same village in India.

“Plus, entrepreneurs will be allowed to enter the UK with their business partners as long as they have access to joint funds.”

Let me, guess, the “business partner” will be the spouse of the “entrepreneur” and the “reputable organisation” will be his cousin. All from the same village in India.

o yeah baby:) this is a same news http://www.trt.gen.tr/YNK4FC

Hopefully a Silicon Valley style area will appear in the UK soon, hopefully not London! I vote a beautiful beach location

This will work out fine; just so long as there aren’t any British allowed to work in management, product development or engineering.

Al-Queada Investment Fund will be looking at this with interest…

It is a tradition in the UK to make “good” and proftable immigration easy. The tax return regulation was already going that way. I think it is smart. As they also have many VC, it is likely that many entrepreneurs will go there instead of the Valley.

The “exceptional talent” (which is new) and entrepreneur visa (which has been expanded) categories are separate.

The guidance on the newly expanded entrepreneur category suggests that the £50,000 must come from an FSA-regulated venture capital firm (which might not include some/most/all angel investors), a UK Trade & Investment-approved seed funding competition (Seedcamp played part in the consultation surrounding the new policy) or a government department if it’s for the express purpose of expanding a visa.

If angels aren’t covered, then there’s a bit of a gap in the proposed legislation, but it’s a good start.

One issue, though, is that people on a working holiday visa (tier 5 youth mobility) still won’t be able to switch to a tier 1 entrepreneur visa without first going back to their own country. Hopefully they can switch to the new prospective entrepreneur category without wasting time and money returning home.

[...] UK beats the US to a tech-friendly Startup Visa (eu.techcrunch.com) [...]

[...] Read the rest of this entry » [...]

Back to disqus. yay!

Whats wrong with the spouses and cousins coming in as long as we get the money and the IP. Every system has loopholes. Just because people like Madoff can run phony investment funds, do you shut down wall street ? Grow some brains and look at where the economy is headed. The tech companies right now are the largest market cap companies in the world apart from the oil companies, which your SUV funds. Majority of these tech companies have immigrant workers/founders. I bet you don’t have a spouse and you hate your cousin – psych 101

Ha Ha.. Tom.. nicely said.. u r absolutely right

Dislike.

You dont understand the pain point here. PPl have started to misuse this visa act and bring in more black money and convert to White money from US as legit sales/revenue and push it back to India or China… well i guess thats my perception..who knows

I wonder if this applies to social entrepreneurs as well.

Thats India’s problem how they obtained their money. If they brought capital here and paid their taxes to US coffers, US does not care. This is a lame excuse because if there is no start-up visa, they will use Havala anyways to launder the money. Isnt it ? The problem is the Indian Govt. There are treaties in place , under which if the Indian Govt alerted the US authorities of misgivings, those accounts would be frozen.

this is europe, we’re still on disqus

I was about to post the same thing as @Repuac before noticing this was the EU subsite..

I’m really not enjoying the Facebook comments over at the main site

Ms. Strutter, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your pithy, misguided response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this comment thread is now dumber for having read it. I award you no likes and may God have mercy on your soul.

If you think the Startup Tax in SF is bad, it’s a whole other ball game with the UK and tax. The only thing not taxed right now is the air I breathe… waiting on that to change though.

[...] Read the rest of this entry » [...]

The weather sucks in the UK… most people wouldn’t simply consider the UK for this reason

The weather sucks in the UK… most people wouldn’t simply consider the UK for this reason

I thought this sounds great. I should move there. Then I realised I’m already living in the UK. I’m awaiting the visa for Manchester – could do with a few more investors up here to accompany the vast range of tech skills

KirkWylie, yes, you are correct… [tongue firmly in cheek here] because AlQaeda thugs, as well as their “peace loving” taliban cousins do nit exist and because they do not exist, they would never look for sneaky ways to enter the US and behead the “infidels.” Right?
With all the civility I can muster here, Sir, may I kindly suggest you make a strenuous effort to remove your head out of your rectum?. Thank you.

Please explain…

Notably, this is far more laissez-faire than the US StartupVisa bill – unlike the US bill, there appears to be no requirement for the startup to create jobs for locals.

And the devil’s in the detail when it comes to the £50k from a ‘reputable organization’ – the UKBA release linked in the first paragraph says “Migrants seeking entry under Tier 1 … need to be endorsed by an accredited competent body. These competent bodies will be announced in the near future.”
Hopefully, this won’t lead to a similar situation we see with language schools profiting from being part of the student visa requirement, yet doing little teaching.

Silicon roundabout, Old St, in London

i think this is way better than the US one.

maybe this visa will work for, say, Gibraltar?…

How could UK Authorities recognized a “reputable organization”?

I’d pay £50k to get out of this poor excuse of a country.

I guess goose stepping while wearing a pointy hat is quiet a tough job.

You could try to find out what a reputable organization means in this case by researching just like Arun did a few comments below. But then how would you troll, right?

£50,000 must come from an FSA-regulated venture capital firm, a UK Trade & Investment-approved seed funding competition, or a government department.

I dont think the U.S. wants to follow the UK…. Afterall the UK has far worse immigration issues and right now Americans are trying to create jobs for the existing population and not invite more people over to take them.

Beautiful beach location? This is Britain, not Brittany…

Beautiful beach location? This is Britain, not Brittany…

This is only progress if you’re not an entrepreneur living in England.

life is what you make it – the UK is one of the richest nations on earth with a fairly good lifestyle. it could be a lot worse ie Slums! / Extreme Starvation / Poverty. Make the most of it.

The idea that immigrants in general take jobs that would otherwise be taken by the existing population is, generally, pretty rubbish (as shown by a lot of research). But the idea that immigrant *entrepreneurs* do so is a whole different level of nonsense.

which God ? – your one Kirk, or the Al-Queada one ?

Tell that to all your tech workers who cant find jobs when people from India and China come in and take those jobs and then live in 10 to an apartment and send all their money to their home country.

If you really work in the tech industry you know that the issue is not about immigration. The Tech industry is one of the few places that experience is not as cracked up to be, the older you get the more useless your skills get. For example someone who has 20 years experience working as a C++ engineer is pretty much guaranteed not to get a job. Most startups work with cutting edge technologies and most “older” workers with decades of experience (or even 5 years experience) will not be able to eligible to work there. (I worked for a company that randomly is switching from ASP.NET to a kick ass PHP backend and already a lot of engineers are getting alienated.)
The startup world needs FRESH engineers all the time and the issue is that the US is not creating enough engineers that are native born. A look at any major US campus’s engineering programs will show that majority of masters level students are International. The fix for the unemployment among the “high tech” workers is not an easy problem to fix and focusing on immigration will mean that you will never solve the deeper crisis: too much flux in technology and Colleges not producing enough engineers.

If you really work in the tech industry you know that the issue is not about immigration. The Tech industry is one of the few places that experience is not as cracked up to be, the older you get the more useless your skills get. For example someone who has 20 years experience working as a C++ engineer is pretty much guaranteed not to get a job. Most startups work with cutting edge technologies and most “older” workers with decades of experience (or even 5 years experience) will not be able to eligible to work there. (I worked for a company that randomly is switching from ASP.NET to a kick ass PHP backend and already a lot of engineers are getting alienated.)
The startup world needs FRESH engineers all the time and the issue is that the US is not creating enough engineers that are native born. A look at any major US campus’s engineering programs will show that majority of masters level students are International. The fix for the unemployment among the “high tech” workers is not an easy problem to fix and focusing on immigration will mean that you will never solve the deeper crisis: too much flux in technology and Colleges not producing enough engineers.

If you really work in the tech industry you know that the issue is not about immigration. The Tech industry is one of the few places that experience is not as cracked up to be, the older you get the more useless your skills get. For example someone who has 20 years experience working as a C++ engineer is pretty much guaranteed not to get a job. Most startups work with cutting edge technologies and most “older” workers with decades of experience (or even 5 years experience) will not be able to eligible to work there. (I worked for a company that randomly is switching from ASP.NET to a kick ass PHP backend and already a lot of engineers are getting alienated.)
The startup world needs FRESH engineers all the time and the issue is that the US is not creating enough engineers that are native born. A look at any major US campus’s engineering programs will show that majority of masters level students are International. The fix for the unemployment among the “high tech” workers is not an easy problem to fix and focusing on immigration will mean that you will never solve the deeper crisis: too much flux in technology and Colleges not producing enough engineers.

I also wan to add that if you are proficient in any one of the super modern technologies (Ruby on Rails, Python, Google app engine, Amazon Ec2) you will get a job in the valley in a heartbeat and will be able to name your own price.

How did this become about the US?

So let me get this straight. You actually believe that using a Startup Visa will be the fastest and most efficient way for Al Qaeda thugs to enter the US and start beheading people. Really? Not getting a visitor/tourist visa? You think they’d bother going through a long-term immigration process to cut your head off? Really? Have you actually considered the words you’re typing?

Or are you just against any form of immigration whatsoever because it might conceivably let in Al Qaeda thugs? Are you against all non-citizens being allowed to enter the US at all? Or USAmericans being permitted to leave (because they might visit a foreign place where they might be radicalized?

Comments like this remind me why I’m still happy not living in the US anymore.

hay so ur ready to welcome all Punjab………india

Unemployment in tech is a lot lower than in most industries, if you hustle, meet the right people by going to events and not by just sending resumes you have a pretty good chance at getting a job, for a startup at least. Of course you need the skills and to be somewhat friendly.

Only on TechCrunch EU.

I wish I knew the answer to that.

Important is that it’s a step in the right direction and as you said…uses organizations that are within the ecosystem in order to avoid any misuse and ensure the best entrepreneurs get the ability to come to UK

I’ve been in the valley 20+ years. As a tech guy

But I had to change technologies at least 3 times:
Started with a UNIX/server focus moved to a Networking focus
Moved to a CIFS/Windows focus
Moved to a Web applications focus

Maybe mobile moving forward.

I’ve been laid off at times when the company I was with ran out of cash or whatever. At that time the only issue I had was with losers trying to hire me for 1/2 or 1/3 what I was making prior. Since I had the confidence my skills were up to par, I could tell them to kiss my big brown a$$.

I don’t think its as bad as you make it out to be. Yes you need to work hard to keep your skills upto par. But employers like having people with a deep/wide breadth of experience.

UK needs something like this because they NEED to attract entrepreneurs.

I don’t think US really needs a startup visa like this one, because people are lined up at the door already. All we need to do is figure out if we want to open the door a crack, or shoo them away.

Some immigration is bad -> all immigration is bad? Don’t be daft.

There is an intense global competition for talent and ideas. Whoever manages to scoop the best and the brightest will win.

The problem is that while there are a lot of people lining up at the door, they can’t (legally) start companies in the US without extensive waiting and ridiculous requirements for funding and employment. This is causing people with great ideas to LEAVE the US either to their home countries or other, more startup-friendly, countries and start their companies there.

That’s clearly bad for the US.

[...] already being cheered on by British tech media, who are reveling in the fact that they’ve beaten their transatlantic cousins to the punch. But for anyone [...]

Let us move to UK…

The U.S. was at its economic height and led in virtually every field of technology just before massive Tedian chamberpot immigration began. A cautionary note.

Thats sad your employer is just now using PHP…. I was coding in PHP at age 16 over a decade ago.

The problem also lies in losing your job or any chance at promotion…. I know handfuls of people who have excellent skills and work for companies like Intel and are rapidly being replaced by Indian workers because they work longer hours and dont ever ask for raises or other perks.

The sad thing is this is not about education since Intel uses a lot of proprietary technology that they sending you to be trained on so that means the Indian workers companies like Intel are hiring are not more experience and have to be trained first usually by the American workers who have pay and promotion freezes.

wait a second, Indians got promoted because they work harder and have better understanding of labor demand and supply?

Yes, and the good thing is that it’s happening soon. It’s important to me because my own visa is up for renewal soon, and this gives me another option. I wouldn’t be surprised if the legislation is wide enough for angels to eventually become certified (if they don’t fall under that definition already) in the future, once the system has bedded in.

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup visa. One of the organizations [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

On March 14 this year three powerful US Senators introduced legislation in the Congress which if passed would instantly provide a two-year US visa to any entrepreneur that can obtain an investor to fund his idea. The StartUp Visa Act of 2011 would allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two year visa as long as they can show that a qualified U.S. investor is willing to invest in the immigrant’s venture with a minimum investment of $100,000 or can show that the business has generated at least $100,000 in annual sales from the US.http://www.bestlaptopbattery.co.uk/dell/latitude-d830.htm

Why would anyone want to say in UK? Is it that great?

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup visa. One of the organizations [...]

[...] post: UK beats the US to a tech-friendly Startup Visa – TechCrunch /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * */ var [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup visa. One of the organizations [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over &#959n TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported th&#1072t th&#1077 UK h&#1072d beaten th&#1077 US &#1110n &#1089r&#1077&#1072t&#1110ng &#1072n [...]

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup visa. One of the organizations [...]

Well said, moaning about “the state of the country” is a national past time for many in the UK… get over it! Life is indeed what you make it, and actually where I live in the middle of the countryside is beautiful, wouldn’t want to live anywhere else

[...] TechCrunch [...]

Duh. You’re not allowed to work on tourist visa, so they won’t have a chance of planting those pesky bombs!

Oh, wait..

[...] = {"data_track_clickback":true};Yesterday, I came across two very odd stories, one from Tech Crunch Europe: Right now the UK media is making a lot of noise about new Visa rules which mean [...]

What about training our own people to a level where we dont need to rob the 3rd world of there only talent.

I think its a fantastic move.

This is indeed great news with all the energy and talent going into London’s silicon roundabout area. But the devil is in the detail: when you look at what “reputable organisation” means, we then have to question how readily accessible those £50k investments are. We are talking about money from an FSA-regulated venture capital firm, a UK Trade & Investment-approved seed funding competition, or a government department. You might ask how many FSA-regulated venture capital firms get out of bed for £50k? On the face of it, not many. The Business Angels community is well placed and highly energised at present, and there is an obvious opportunity for those that can fit within the ‘reputable organisation’ definition.

Jon Sutcliffe
Partner, Kingston Smith LLP

[...] today, Mike Butcher over on TechCrunch Europe gleefully reported that the UK had beaten the US in creating an entrepreneur/startup [...]

[...] giving out these days so as not to take jobs from national citizens.  Adam and I were applying for the latest and greatest UK visa and playing the waiting game. Things that are not fun about being in visa [...]

I have lived in the US for more than half my life and invented several technologies worked for Fortune 100 companies and created 100s of jobs and I must say US is no longer that melting pot it used to be. It is a constant struggle and a feeling of imprisonment for the top talents due to stringent visa/immigration rules in the US and the sense is the US doesn’t want anyone from outside the US. It takes 10+ years to get a residency in the US and the experience dealing with immigration is like you have commited a crime and you always have to live in fear. Obama tried his best to clean up some of that but failed, just like he failed at various other good initiatives. I believe the UK is acting really smart. Top talents around the world don’t want to be treated as third class citizens being chained down and oppressed by immigrant laws and live in fear that you will be kicked out if you fail to meet some numerical limits or renewal… I wish the US learns it’s lessons and Clinton days are back again

This can only be good news for UK consumers – not so good for Uk entrepreneurs methinks.

I find the program very good. Sure, it has some shortcomings but still… I mean UK realised that it needs more entrepreneurs. Germany doesn’t realise anything…

Reminds me of the bait-and-switch that the Britain indulged in with its Highly Skilled Migrant Program. It first invited skilled migrants and then reneged on its promise. This is typical of British people. Britain is also known for inventing idiotic economic systems like marxism, socialism and keynesianism. This proves that Britain is inferior. Please do not compare it with USA. USA is far superior to UK. Indian people are also pro-free-market and are therefore superior. The only reason India lagged behind is that Britain foisted a socialist as India’s first Prime Minister.

British people are also so foolish that they support Islamic violence in India and brand anyone who opposes it as a Hindu fundamentalist. Hindus who oppose the Shariah law in India are branded Hindu fundamentalist by the British press like BBC, Guardian, Telegraph and the Independent. Therefore, I want to add that UK deserves the treatment it gets from Muslim immigrants. I remember that when Muslims killed Hindus in Godhra, British press justified the attacks. The riots that followed were sad but something common in that society, but British people invented conspiracy theories and claimed (they still do) that the riots were hatched by the Chief Minister of Gujarat. They did this only because he is a Hindu.

I wish upon UK what it preaches to Indians. And oh, one last point for you inferior brained socialists who believe that money comes from the printing press: London bombing was due to Muslim freedom fighters who were oppressed by British soldiers who join the army solely with the ambition of going to poor Muslim countries and raping children. All your soldiers are cowards. That is why British soldiers get killed in friendly fire: they run away from the battlefield and the frustrated allies shoot them to take revenge.

Accredited Competent Body: Can any one please help me to identify which organization this can be to step in UK. I am a techie having 8+ years of experience as a Data warehouse Architect. Am I eligible for Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent?)

Migrants seeking entry under Tier 1 (Exceptional talent) will not need to be sponsored by an employer but will need to be endorsed by an accredited competent body

Michael Brown

[...] launched the East London ‘tech city’ intitative, got a boost earlier this month with the tech-friendly Startup Visa and then we saw a whole lot more in the budget last [...]

[...] Luger to reintroduce the Startup Visa Act and hope that the US legislators will follow UK‘s lead which has recently introduced a startup visa of their own which went in effect in April. As a [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] the new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] widely welcomed b&#1091 th&#1077 &#1109t&#1072rt up community, n&#959t &#406&#1077&#1072&#1109t here &#959n TechCrunch Europe, &#1072n&#1281 cited &#1072&#1109 evidence th&#1072t th&#1077 UK h&#1072&#1109 &#1110n one respect [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

Check out this article on Start up visa

http://www.orpad.com/2011/04/startup-visa-act-of-2011-who-is-going.html

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] new “entrepreneur visa” has been widely welcomed by the start up community, not least here on TechCrunch Europe, and cited as evidence that the UK has in one respect stolen a march on Silicon Valley as the US [...]

[...] early 2000’s. I began to wonder where did all the talent go? One explanation is all thanks to U.S. Visa regulations, a lot of lead talent had to leave the country (kicked out) due to their work visas [...]

Even you have the best idea for cutting age technology, there is a big chance that you will lost you ideas when you will speak to a venture capitalist. I am from tech background, the the idea I have, is tested on UK market for 6 years by research. When I am calling to a venture capitalist or KTN, they are listening ideas caefully for more than a hour, but after listening showing confusing behaviour. I do not thing UK will give any seed funding or UKTI registered funding to international people. Please do not take it offensive but, last month I spoke to few people and my feeling is they are just stilling people’s ideas by opening this root. It is a dangerous root for real tech people, who have the capabilities to invent new things and have real ideas. I am thinking to write a letter to David Cameron about it. He may not be aware of it. We international people should feel secured when we are discussing our ideas with UK registered organization.

[...] British Government has beaten the US to a startup visa – but what this means in practical terms for founders and investors hasn’t really been [...]

That is ridiculously good news for tech startups wanting to set up shop in the UK, and startups in the UK wanting to hire in talent they can’t get locally – CTOs for instance. Plus, entrepreneurs will be allowed to enter the UK with their business partners as long as they have access to joint funds.kosmo disk

[...] UK beats th&#1077 US t&#959 a tech-friendly Startup VisaMar 17, 2011 R&#1110ght now th&#1077 UK media &#1110&#1109 building a lot &#959f noise &#1072b&#959&#965t n&#1077w Visa rules wh&#1110&#1089h mean super-investors [...]

[...] if they bring their business ideas along for the ride. Britain’s own start-up visa allows any entrepreneur with at least 50,000 pounds of funding from a reputable organization to set up shop on a one-year visa. Singapore has similar requirements for foreign start-ups; [...]