Two new types of permits for immigrants to access the labor market with the aim of attracting talent and upgrading Greece to an international academic, research and investment center, includes the bill of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum that was presented in the previous days to the cabinet by the competent minister, Dimitris Kairides.
As the minister has repeated many times, legal immigration subject to conditions and rules is a strategic priority of the ministry which is also taking the necessary steps to make this possible, such as upgrading the administrative mechanism to be able to process with speed and reliability the increased requests for call-backs, new residence permits and renewals of old permits.
In this context, TalentVisa and TechVisa are introduced, which give access to employment to graduates from countries outside the European Union who have studied at top universities around the world, as well as to highly skilled workers or highly entrepreneurial workers.
Greek Tech Visa for working in start-ups
The Greek Tech Visa is a simplified, fast-track program for non-EU employees, founders and investors of businesses and start-ups to obtain a residence permit in Greece. This is, in other words, the new national entry visa for work with an emphasis on the enterprises of the National Register of Young Enterprises (Elevate Greece).
According to sources at the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, for Athens and Greece to become an international hub and innovation destination, the Greek tech ecosystem needs to become even more outgoing, connected and ambitious. Attracting international talent, repatriating the highly skilled diaspora and incentivizing founders to start their next branch in Greece is imperative in order to grow the Greek innovation ecosystem and make Greece a new hub.
The “Greek Tech Visa for Outstanding Talent” program is an expedited process for founders and employees with a high-level technical or business background to work in Greece. According to the same sources, the visa will be valid for one year, allowing talents to work, change employers or become self-employed, without the need for further licensing. At the same time, it will be possible to extend it to immediate family members, while after the initial period of the visa, one can apply either for an extension or for permanent settlement in Greece.
Globally, all countries aspiring to become an innovation hub have launched a similar Tech Visa program: UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Germany, Canada, USA and many others, having understood how important it is for a country to be competitive and attractive to highly skilled and exceptional talent, have adopted such arrangements as we transform into a more flexible, decentralized and high-tech world.
What are the requirements for the Talent Visa?
The Talent Visa is a new annual entry visa for graduates of recognized universities abroad and is for talented university graduates from around the world.
The new visa will allow students who have graduated from a leading world university to enter Greece for one year. According to the same sources of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, in order to receive it, an interested party does not need to have secured a job offer, but can look for work while under the TalentVisa regime.
It is open to university graduates of all non-EU countries and is intended for highly skilled immigrants who are ready to thrive in their field and want to contribute to the Greek economy.
The program also aims to increase the talent pool for Greek employers, start-ups and research institutions.
Applicants must demonstrate that they have received a bachelor’s degree or completed a postdoctoral program within the last five years at top universities such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale, etc. in the USA- McGill, University of Toronto, etc. in Canada, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, etc. in the UK – Peking University, Tsinghua University, etc. in China, IITsetc in India and other universities in Asia, Europe and America.
Knowledge of the Greek language will not be necessary. Instead, the applicant must be able to demonstrate that they are able to read, write, speak and listen to an intermediate level of English unless they are a national of an English-speaking country or have obtained a degree taught in the English language.
The applicant must, however, prove that he can support himself financially upon his arrival in Greece without relying on public funds, proving that he has sufficient funds at the date of the application, while he has the right to bring with him the his dependents, as long as he can also support them financially.
The visa aims to attract new graduates to Greece, who will have the opportunity for one year to get to know the country, the culture, explore Europe and the available economic opportunities. After securing an employment opportunity during their visa, they can switch to one of the other work visas / residence permits offered by the Greek state. In this way, Greece allows highly skilled talent to get to know the country, the Migration and Asylum Ministry believes, and then create a substantial impact on the Greek economy.
Source: RES-MPE
#Work #immigrants #TalentVisa #TechVisa #coming #apply
