Hi @Omar Ali Sheikh thank you for reaching out to us on the Microsoft Q&A forum.
Based on Microsoft's published documentation and recent discussions around the May 2026 program change, there does not appear to be a self-service or documented migration path that allows an existing startup on the legacy $5,000/180-day Azure credit offer to be converted onto the new usage-based milestone program.
However, there are a few important details:
- Microsoft explicitly states that your experience depends on when you joined. Companies that joined before May 29, 2026 remain on the legacy portal experience, while new applicants use the new milestone-based experience. The documentation does not describe a process for moving an existing membership between the two.
- The new documentation describes startups joining the new program and earning additional credits as they demonstrate sustained Azure adoption, but it does not state that existing legacy memberships are automatically upgraded or can opt in.
- Microsoft staff responding to transition questions have generally directed affected startups to Program Support for individual account reviews rather than describing any public migration mechanism.
If you want to request consideration
The supported path is to submit a Program Support request asking for your account to be reviewed for eligibility under the new program.
For legacy members, Microsoft's documentation says this is done from the Microsoft for Startups portal:
- Sign in to the Microsoft for Startups portal.
- Select the ? icon in the upper-right.
- Choose Submit a Support Ticket.
If the "Get program support" tile is missing
The documentation for the legacy experience no longer refers to a dashboard tile—it refers to the ? → Submit a Support Ticket menu instead. So first check whether that help menu is available even if the tile is not.
If you genuinely have no Program Support entry point at all, that's likely an account or portal issue rather than an indication that migration is unsupported. In that case, you should:
- open an Azure support case explaining that your Microsoft for Startups portal is missing the Program Support option, or
- post in the Microsoft Startups community so a moderator can route the issue to the program team, as Microsoft has been doing for portal transition problems.
Given what you've described—8+ Azure services running continuously for roughly 60 days—you certainly have a reasonable basis to ask for a manual review under the milestone criteria. But as of the current published guidance, Microsoft has not announced a general migration or opt-in process for legacy accounts, so any move onto the new program appears to be handled, if at all, as an individual support review rather than a documented conversion path.Based on Microsoft's published documentation and recent discussions around the May 2026 program change, there does not appear to be a self-service or documented migration path that allows an existing startup on the legacy $5,000/180-day Azure credit offer to be converted onto the new usage-based milestone program.
However, there are a few important details:
- Microsoft explicitly states that your experience depends on when you joined. Companies that joined before May 29, 2026 remain on the legacy portal experience, while new applicants use the new milestone-based experience. The documentation does not describe a process for moving an existing membership between the two.
- The new documentation describes startups joining the new program and earning additional credits as they demonstrate sustained Azure adoption, but it does not state that existing legacy memberships are automatically upgraded or can opt in.
- Microsoft staff responding to transition questions have generally directed affected startups to Program Support for individual account reviews rather than describing any public migration mechanism.
If you want to request consideration
The supported path is to submit a Program Support request asking for your account to be reviewed for eligibility under the new program.
For legacy members, Microsoft's documentation says this is done from the Microsoft for Startups portal:
- Sign in to the Microsoft for Startups portal.
- Select the ? icon in the upper-right.
- Choose Submit a Support Ticket.
If the "Get program support" tile is missing
The documentation for the legacy experience no longer refers to a dashboard tile—it refers to the ? → Submit a Support Ticket menu instead. So first check whether that help menu is available even if the tile is not.
If you genuinely have no Program Support entry point at all, that's likely an account or portal issue rather than an indication that migration is unsupported. In that case, you should:
- open an Azure support case explaining that your Microsoft for Startups portal is missing the Program Support option, or
- post in the Microsoft Startups community so a moderator can route the issue to the program team, as Microsoft has been doing for portal transition problems.
Given what you've described—8+ Azure services running continuously for roughly 60 days—you certainly have a reasonable basis to ask for a manual review under the milestone criteria. But as of the current published guidance, Microsoft has not announced a general migration or opt-in process for legacy accounts, so any move onto the new program appears to be handled, if at all, as an individual support review rather than a documented conversion path.
Sources:
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