The Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188) is a temporary visa that allows you to invest and live in Australia for four years. It is part of the Business Innovation and Investment Program.
For people with business skills who want to establish, develop and manage a new or existing business in Australia. It is a point-based visa stream, applicant/s need to achieve at least 65 points and must be nominated by a state or territory government.
Primary applicant to be under 55 years old at the time of receiving an invitation;
Applicant/s to meet the business turnover and net assets requirements;
Applicant/s generally have a successful business history
For people who want to make a designated investment of at least AUD1.5million in an Australian state or territory and maintain business and investment activity in Australia. It is also a point-based visa stream, applicant/s need to achieve at least 65 points and must be nominated by a state or territory government.
Primary applicant to be under 55 years old at the time of receiving an invitation;
Applicant/s to meet the business/investment experience requirements
Applicant/s to meet the net assets requirements
For people who are willing to invest at least AUD5million into complying significant investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants can be nominated by a state or territory government or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government.
It is not points-based visa
To be sponsored/nominated by either state government or Austrade
Funds are required to be invested in complying investment funds prior to visa grant
For people who are willing to invest at least AUD15million into complying premium investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Austrade will make the initial contact with suitable candidates for nomination on behalf of the Australian government.
For people who have a funding agreement from a third party for at least AUD200 000 to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity that is proposed to lead to either the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia or the development of a business in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.
You must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect and be nominated by an eligible government organisation before being invited to apply for this visa.
For visa holders under Business Innovation Stream – subclass 188A, one of the fundamental criteria for a permanent visa application under s/c 888A stream is that the applicant has been in Australia with an ownership interest in at least one actively operating main business in Australia during the 2 years immediately before the permanent visa application is made.
Each state government has different requirements in the type of business the s/c 188A visa holders can operation, for example:
New South Wales state government has removed the ‘excluded industry sectors’ criteria from NSW business visa nomination requirements that were in place prior to 1st January 2016. This indicates the New South Wales state government welcomes all business migrants to do business in Sydney/NSW territory and makes it easier for migrants in their permanent business visa application process.
Whilst New South Wales government lifted all the restrictions, Victorian state government still exclude some business activities for business nomination purpose, unless otherwise agreed to in writing:
As stated above, each state government has different criteria in assessing the nomination application for migrants.
Processing time varies depending on the number of applications in the system and the number of new applications submitted.
As of November 2018, the Department has published the following processing information for business subclass 188 visa under different streams:
Business visa subclass 188 under Significant Investor, Premium Investor and Entrepreneur streams are currently unavailable due to a low volume of applications.
For visa under 188A business innovation stream, the processing time can take up to 18-20 months; for a visa under 188B investor stream, the processing time can take up to 19-23 months before a decision can be made.
There are no specific visa conditions for Subclass 188A, 188B visa holders; however, the visa holders will need to work through the visa validity and meet the permanent visa requirements;
There are, however, specific requirements for visa holders under significant investor and premium investor stream, which require the visa holders to hold the complying investment for the whole of the visa period.
Apart from undertaking business/investment activities in Australia, the applicant and family members are free to undertake studies, multiple travels within the validity of the visa.
Eligibility is the most important step in determining whether a person may meet the legal criteria for a visa application and one consultation could save you money.
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