"How long" has more than one answer.
The headline figures disagree, and none is lying. They measure different things. A setup is not one event. It is three clocks that start at different points and do not finish together:
- The licence, the quickest stage and what the fast headlines describe.
- The residence visas, which start only once the licence is issued.
- The corporate bank account, whose clock decides when you can transact.
Anchor to banking, not the licence.
Founders plan around the licence because it is the visible milestone. The one that decides when you can receive client money is rarely on the banner.
The visible milestone misleads
A licence in days feels like the finish line, so plans get built on it. Being licensed and being able to receive client money are two dates, often weeks apart.
The bank sets the true finish
The corporate account opens on the bank's timetable, after its compliance review. It is the stage most likely to stretch, and the one that lets you trade.
Who decides here: the bank, not usA miss becomes a commitment problem
Promise a client a start on the licence date, then wait on the bank, and you risk the relationship. The expensive part is not the extra weeks. It is having told someone it would take days.
We will not sell you a "48 hours" headline, because the date you can plan around is a different number.
Your real date turns on three things:
- Your nationality and document position.
- The structure and activity you pick.
- Which banking route fits your profile.
A generic timeline, this one included, is not something to lock plans against. We map your specific chain with you and give you a realistic operational date, not just a licence date, so whatever you tell a client or co-founder holds. When to start the chain is covered in should I set up now or wait until I have customers, and the structure choice that moves several of these links is in finding your route.