Chile launches Tech Visa with easier visa norms

Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile, has launched the Chilean Tech Visa in the first week of April, which will reduce the visa approval process to 15 days. With the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) department limiting visas to be issued on the H-1B visa program, which was a hit with tech companies, Chile is trying to make most of this opportunity by making it convenient and lucrative for foreigners to float a tech company or work for one in Chile. The new tech visa of the South American country is being targeted at founders and investors of tech companies that are based or looking to start operations in Chile. People who will be beneficiaries of this new visa would also be skilled workers in science as well as technology sectors who intend to work for a tech company based in Chile. Investors who would be selected for an accelerator program of Startup Chile or one of its three lines of financing would also be eligible to obtain a visa within 15 days of their applications. Nathan Lustig, a managing partner of Magma Partners, a Chilean company, was quoted by ZDNet as telling it that America’s current conditions have given an opportunity to their country to lure tech talent and businesses. Hastening the visa acquisition process is a gigantic step because it will make it easier to float and develop a global business in the Latin American country, transforming the country’s status from an economy that was extraction-based to a knowledge-based economy. Lustig said that the US has been holding a monopoly on the crème-de-la-crème of talent, making most entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers flock to New York City or Silicon Valley. But in the past few years, owing to the increasing costs of living, effects on the quality of life and amendments to immigration and visa policies of late have made many top entrepreneurs, creative people, engineers and others look at different destinations for openings in countries that are welcoming them openly. If you are looking to migrate to Chile, get in touch with Y-Axis, a leading immigration consultancy company, to apply for a visa from one of its several offices.