68 routes
Antigua & Barbuda
For entrepreneurs who want citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda by investing in an approved business - either alone or jointly with other approved applicants in a larger venture.
View route details
Armenia
Armenia has no separate digital nomad or freelancer visa, and the route founders and self-employed people actually use is the ordinary Temporary Resident Card granted on the ground of running business activity in Armenia.
View route details
Austria
Austria's Red-White-Red Card for Start-up Founders, governed by the Settlement and Residence Act and the Act Governing the Employment of Foreign Nationals, admits third-country nationals who establish a company to develop and launch innovative products, services, processing methods or technologies.
View route details
Austria
Dedicated RWR Card category for innovative startup founders — business plan assessed by an expert jury, no points calculation needed.
View route details
Bangladesh
Foreign nationals investing in Bangladesh access the country's investment regime through the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the apex investment-promotion agency under the Chief Adviser's Office, via its online One-Stop Service (OSS) portal established under the One-Stop Service Act, 2018.
View route details
Belgium
Belgium's professional card, issued by Brussels Economy and Employment for non-EU nationals seeking self-employed or independent activity, is the mechanism for registering with the Enterprise Crossroads Bank and conducting business.
View route details
Browsing tells you what exists. Your answers tell you what is open to you. Create a free account and we check your passport, your studies and your work against the official rules of every route on this page.
Get startedBotswana
Botswana's Work Permit, administered by the Department of Labour and Social Security under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, gives a non-citizen permission to work in Botswana for reward or to invest in Botswana for profit.
View route details
Canada
Permanent residence for entrepreneurs with endorsement from a designated Canadian venture capital fund, angel investor group, or business incubator.
View route details
Colombia
The Migrant (M) visa for foreign investors and business owners or partners in a Colombian company.
View route details
Colombia
The digital-nomad subcategory of the Visa V, for remote workers and digital entrepreneurs serving foreign companies or clients from Colombia.
View route details
Czechia
Czechia does not let a self-employed foreigner arrive on a residence permit.
View route details
Czechia
The Czech long-term visa for the purpose of doing business — colloquially the živno route — governed by the Aliens Act, is issued to third-country nationals seeking to run a self-employed trade in the Czech Republic.
View route details
Denmark
Start-up Denmark is the two-stage founder route for non-EU/EEA, non-Swiss citizens (and Danish citizens bringing overseas family): first the business plan must be approved by the Startup Denmark expert panel, then the founder applies separately to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI…
View route details
Estonia
Estonia's residence permit for employment, issued by the Police and Border Guard Board under the Aliens Act, is the temporary permit for non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals working in Estonia — the umbrella covering skilled workers under general conditions, top specialists, start-up employees, scientists and lecturers, EU Bl…
View route details
Estonia
The Estonian Startup Visa, run by Startup Estonia on the legal definition in the Aliens Act, helps non-EU founders grow their startup in Estonia and eases hiring of non-EU talent by Estonian startups.
View route details
Ethiopia
Ethiopia's Business Visa, issued by the Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS), is for individuals travelling to Ethiopia for business purposes such as meetings, conferences or contract negotiations, and permits entry for a limited period for those activities.
View route details
Finland
Finland's Start-up Entrepreneur residence route requires an Eligibility Statement, applied for through the Enter Finland platform with copies of passports and CVs attached for all team members.
View route details
France
France's residence card for job-seeking or business creation (carte de séjour temporaire or VLS-TS "recherche d'emploi/création d'entreprise") lets a recent graduate stay in France to look for a job or start a business matching their qualification.
View route details
France
France's French Tech Visa for Founders, part of the "Talent – Innovative Economic Project" (Passeport Talent – Porteur de projet) residence-permit family, requires the founder to demonstrate an innovative economic project to be developed in France with official recognition of its innovative nature by the Regional Di…
View route details
Germany
Germany allows a foreign national to immigrate to work on a self-employed or freelance basis under Sections 9, 9a, 17a, 18, 20 and 21 of the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz).
View route details
Greece
Employer-sponsored 12-month work+residence permit for hires at Elevate Greece-registered startups; salary >=1.6x Greek national average; tied exclusively to one employer.
View route details
Honduras
Honduras Special Permanence Permit checklist for foreign business owners operating in Honduras.
View route details
Iceland
If you run your own genuine business in Iceland or are financially independent through it, this route gives you residence tied to that activity.
View route details
India
The Business Visa ('B' Visa) is issued under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) FAQ guidance for foreign nationals of assured financial standing who wish to visit India to establish or explore setting up an industrial or business venture, purchase/sell goods, attend board or technical meetings, recruit manpower, act as …
View route details
Ireland
The Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP), introduced by the Irish Government in 2012, lets a non-EEA national with an innovative business proposal apply for permission to establish that business and reside in Ireland full time.
View route details
Italy
Italia Startup Visa (ISV) is the Italian government's national visa route, run by the ISV Committee within the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT, the successor to MISE, hence the mise.gov.it domain), for non-EU innovators who want to relocate to Italy to found an innovative startup as defined under th…
View route details
Latvia
Latvia's share-capital investor residence permit, issued by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), grants a temporary residence permit to a foreigner who invests in a company's share capital — increasing it or founding a new company — and pays €10,000 into the State budget.
View route details
Latvia
Latvia's Startup Visa, run by Startup Latvia (the state agency LIAA's startup programme), is technically a temporary residence permit for non-EU startup founders who want to launch their idea in Latvia.
View route details
Lithuania
Lithuania does not offer an open freelancer permit.
View route details
Lithuania
Startup Visa Lithuania is the state's founder-track residence route, run by Startup Lithuania under Innovation Agency Lithuania, giving non-EU entrepreneurs a streamlined path into the Lithuanian startup ecosystem.
View route details
Luxembourg
Luxembourg route for third-country entrepreneurs and independent professionals whose activity benefits the country.
View route details
Madagascar
Madagascar EDBM company-creation service used by foreign founders and investors who need local company documents for investor, work or long-stay filings.
View route details
Malawi
The Business Residence Permit, known throughout the Malawian system as the BRP, authorises a foreign national to reside in Malawi in order to carry on, practise or engage in a business, profession or occupation for gain, profit or reward as a self-employed person, a partner or a proprietor.
View route details
Malta
Malta's Startup Residence Programme grants a residence permit for non-EU nationals who launch startup ventures in Malta.
View route details
Mauritius
Mauritius' Occupation Permit for Investors is administered by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and combines a work and residence permit for a non-citizen who invests a minimum of USD 100,000 into a business activity in Mauritius.
View route details
Mauritius
The Self-Employed Occupation Permit, issued by the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius, lets a freelancer or independent professional relocate to Mauritius by investing a minimum of USD 50,000 in a professional activity and producing at least 3 letters of intent from prospective clients, of which 2 must be…
View route details
Mauritius
The Permanent Residence Permit (PRP) is a 20-year residency status for Mauritius, renewable for a further 20 years, granted by the Residence Permit Section of the Prime Minister's Office (Defence and Home Affairs Division) to investors, professionals, self-employed entrepreneurs, retired non-citizens and their famil…
View route details
Nepal
Nepal's Business Visa, a Non-Tourist Visa category issued by the Department of Immigration, is available to investors and businesspersons investing in or undertaking business in Nepal.
View route details
Netherlands
The Dutch Self-Employed Person (Zelfstandige) residence permit, issued by the IND, is for people who want to start a business in the Netherlands, or to work as a self-employed artist there — a self-sponsored route with no employer required.
View route details
Netherlands
The Dutch Start-up residence permit, issued by the IND, lets a person come to the Netherlands to start an innovative business, referred to by the IND as a 'start-up'.
View route details
Oman
A government-approved freelance / self-employed permit that lets eligible professionals work in Oman without a single employer-sponsor, issued via the Ministry of Labour and the Royal Oman Police.
View route details
Portugal
Portugal's D2 national residence visa covers independent work activity or migrant entrepreneurs, one of the purpose-specific tracks listed under the country's residency-visa regime alongside subordinate work, remote work and highly-qualified activity.
View route details
Portugal
Portugal's StartUP Visa is a residence-visa programme run by IAPMEI, the Portuguese Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation, under Legislative (Normative) Order nr.
View route details
Qatar
Invest Qatar — the State's investment promotion agency — runs a Residency Program aimed squarely at people who bring a business with them rather than a job offer.
View route details
Rwanda
The business entrepreneur permit is the temporary residence permit the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) issues to a foreign national who runs a business in Rwanda on their own account without holding an investment certificate.
View route details
Saudi Arabia
The freelance work document — wathiqat al-amal al-hurr — is the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's instrument for formalising self-employment in Saudi Arabia.
View route details
Serbia
Serbia's practical route for remote workers under the 2024 Law on Foreigners, commonly via self-employment or the single permit rather than a dedicated nomad visa.
View route details
Serbia
Self-employment (samozapošljavanje) is one of the six grounds that lead to Serbia's single residence-and-work permit.
View route details
Seychelles
Seychelles work authorisation for non-Seychellois workers and self-employed people.
View route details
Singapore
The EntrePass is Singapore's founder visa, and it is deliberately narrow: it is intended for serial entrepreneurs, high-calibre innovators or experienced investors who want to operate a Singapore business that is venture-backed or owns innovative technologies.
View route details
Slovenia
Slovenia lets a third-country national work for themselves on a single permit for work as a self-employed person — one document covering both residence and the right to work.
View route details
Slovenia
Slovenia's single residence and work permit is mandatory for third-country nationals who want to reside and work in Slovenia, issued by administrative units with the approval of the Employment Service of Slovenia; its procedures and conditions are laid down in the Foreigners Act and the Employment, Self-employment a…
View route details
Slovenia
Since 21 November 2025, Slovenia's Ministry of the Interior grants a dedicated temporary residence permit for digital nomads: a foreigner who is not a citizen of an EU or EEA country and who is employed by, or under civil-law contract to, a business entity based outside Slovenia, or self-employed abroad, performing …
View route details
Spain
Spain's international teleworking visa sits under Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation, and lets people employed or contracted abroad live in Spain while working remotely.
View route details
Spain
Spain's entrepreneur residence authorisation, under Articles 68 to 70 of Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation, is for foreign citizens over 18 who intend to launch, develop or manage an innovative business activity of special economic interest to Spain.
View route details
Sri Lanka
The Investor Category of Sri Lanka's Residence Visa, issued by the Department of Immigration and Emigration under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act No.
View route details
Sweden
Sweden's Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) grants a self-funded residence permit letting a highly qualified non-EU/EEA citizen come to Sweden purely to look for work or investigate starting a business, with no job offer or employer sponsor required.
View route details
Sweden
Sweden's self-employment permit is a residence permit for non-EU/EEA nationals who will personally run a business in Sweden, and the Migration Agency assesses it as a business case rather than a paperwork exercise.
View route details
Sweden
Sweden's work permit is issued by the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) to any non-EU/EEA/Swiss national — no nationality is excluded on the source page — who has an employment offer in Sweden, whether as a regular employee, a self-employed person, a temporary or seasonal worker, or an accompanying family …
View route details
Sweden
Sweden's employer-sponsored work permit (arbetstillstånd) lets a non-EU/EEA citizen work for a specific employer once they have a signed employment contract meeting Swedish collective-agreement or industry-standard terms, employer-provided insurance (health, life, industrial injury, occupational pension), and — unde…
View route details
Taiwan
Taiwan has run an Entrepreneur Visa since 2015 to attract international startups and innovative founders.
View route details
Thailand
The SMART Visa is the Thailand Board of Investment's route for foreign talent and entrepreneurs in the country's thirteen targeted "S-Curve" industries.
View route details
Uganda
Uganda's Class D Entry Permit, issued by the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control, is issued to shareholders of companies engaged in general trade.
View route details
Ukraine
Temporary residence for qualifying founders, participants or beneficial owners of Ukrainian legal entities.
View route details
United Arab Emirates
Freelancing in the UAE with your own residence is a two-document exercise, and the order matters.
View route details
United Kingdom
The UK's Global Talent visa for digital technology is a two-stage route: first, endorsement of exceptional talent or promise in digital technology by the sector's approved endorsing body (Tech Nation's successor arrangements), then the visa application itself.
View route details
United Kingdom
The Innovator Founder visa (formerly the Innovator visa) is the UK's route for setting up and running a genuinely new business.
View route details
United States
The E-2 treaty investor classification lets a national of a country that holds a treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States (or a qualifying international agreement, or a country designated by legislation) come to the US to direct a business into which they have invested a substantial amount of capital.
View route details
Browsing tells you what exists. Your answers tell you what is open to you. Create a free account and we check your passport, your studies and your work against the official rules of every route on this page.
Get startedFursa is an independent information service, not a law firm or a registered immigration adviser. We link every figure to the official source so you can check it yourself.