You must be the primary holder of a:

– Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa Business Innovation stream
– Special Category visa (SCV) (subclass 444)
– Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa Business Innovation Extension stream, or
– in certain cases, a subclass 457 visa

You can also apply if you are the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa and:

– your spouse or de facto partner is the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa in the Business Innovation stream
– you meet all the primary criteria requirements of the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa in the Business Innovation stream

You must have a current nomination from a state or territory government agency.

For the 2 years immediately before you apply, you must have:

– had, and continue to have, an ownership interest in up to two main businesses in Australia
– had a direct and continuous management role in that business or businesses
– submitted Business Activity Statements to the Australian Taxation Office
– an Australian Business Number for each of your main businesses

For the 24 months immediately before you apply, you must own at least:

– 51% of the total value of a business with a turnover of less than AUD400,000 per year, or
– 30% of the total value of a business with a turnover of AUD400,000 or more per year, or
– 10% of the total value of a business that is operated by a publicly listed company

If you bought your main business (or businesses) from a person who applied for or held:

– a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa or
– a permanent business skills visa (in subclasses 890, 891, 892 or 893)

at the time of the acquisition, you must show that you and that person co-owned the business for at least 1 year before you apply.

Your main business or businesses (or the business or businesses of your spouse or de facto partner, or of you and your spouse or de facto partner together), had an annual turnover of at least AUD300,000 in the 12 months immediately before the application was made.

For the 12 months immediately before you apply, you or your partner (or you and your partner together) must show at least 2 of the following:

– assets of AUD200,000 net value in your main business (or 2 main businesses) in Australia
– personal and business assets in Australia of AUD600,000 net value
– equivalent of at least 2 full-time eligible employees in your main business

If you want to meet the employee rule, your employees must work in your main business (or main businesses) and:

– be Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or holders of valid New Zealand passports
– not be members of your family

When operating your business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:

– Commonwealth laws
– the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English.

You must have been in Australia for at least 1 year in the 2 years immediately before you apply as the holder of a:

– Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa Business Innovation stream
– Special Category visa (SCV) (subclass 444)
– Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa Business Innovation Extension stream, or
– in certain cases, a subclass 457 visa

You and your partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continuing your business and investment activities in Australia.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet character requirement.

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.

You must be the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream.

You can also apply as the primary applicant if you are the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa and:

– your spouse or de facto partner is the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa in the Investor stream
– you meet all the primary criteria requirements of the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa stream

You must have a current nomination from a state or territory.

When you applied for your provisional visa, you invested AUD1.5 million in an Australian state or territory, which is called a ‘designated investment’. You must have held your designated investment for at least 4 years if the provisional visa was granted on the basis of an application made on or after 1 July 2015, or for at least 3 years and 11 months if the provisional visa was granted on the basis of an application made before 1 July 2015.

You must have lived in Australia for at least 2 of the 4 years immediately before you apply.

You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continuing your business or investment activities in Australia.

If you operated a business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:

– Commonwealth laws
– the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet character requirement.

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.

A primary applicant for the visa must be:

– the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream, or
– the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa granted on the basis that you were the spouse or de facto partner of a person who held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream, and you have ceased to be the spouse or de facto partner of that person or that person has died.

You must have a current nomination from a state or territory.

When you were granted your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa, you invested AUD5 million in a ‘complying investment’ or a ‘complying significant investment.

To be granted a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888) visa, you (or you and your spouse or de facto partner combined) must:

– for the whole period during which you held your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa, have held a ‘complying investment’ (if your subclass 188 visa was granted on the basis of an application made before 1 July 2015) or a ‘complying significant investment’ (if your subclass 188 visa was granted on the basis of an application made on or after 1 July 2015),
– tell us of any times you transferred funds from one investment to another

If any part of your investment is or was a direct investment in an Australian proprietary company, then:

– if the period of the direct investment was less than 2 years, the company must have been a qualifying business for the whole period, or
– if the period of the direct investment was 2 years or more, the company was a ‘qualifying business’ for at least 2 years, or
– if the company has been unable to operate as a ‘qualifying business’, you must have made a genuine attempt to operate the business as a ‘qualifying business ’.

you must have been in Australia for at least the number of days worked out by adding the results of paragraphs (a) and (b):
– (a) 40 multiplied by the number of complete years in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream, and
– (b) 40 multiplied by the number of years (if any) (treating a part of a year as one year) in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor Extension stream

your spouse or de facto partner must have been in Australia on a subclass 188 visa, granted on the basis that you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor Extension stream, for at least the number of days worked out by adding the results of paragraphs (a) and (b):
– (a) 180 multiplied by the number of complete years in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream, and
– (b)180 multiplied by the number of years (if any) (treating a part of a year as one year) in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor Extension stream.

You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continue your business or investment activity in Australia.

If you operated a business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:

– Commonwealth laws
– the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet character requirement.

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.

A primary applicant for the visa must be:

– the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Premium investor stream.
– the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa granted on the basis that you were the spouse or de facto partner of a person who held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Premium Investor stream, and you have ceased to be the spouse or de facto partner of that person or that person has died.

At the time you (the primary applicant) apply for the permanent visa, you must have held the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Premium Investor stream for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

You must have a current nomination from Austrade.

When you were granted your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Premium Investor stream, you invested AUD15 million in a ‘complying premium investment’.

To be granted a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent)(subclass 888) visa in the Premium Investor stream, you must have:

– held, at the time of application, a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Premium Investor stream for a continuous period of at least 12 months and
– held the complying premium investment (except any part of the investment that is a philanthropic contribution) for the whole time you have held your provisional visa.

The investment rules state that your complying premium investment of AUD15 million had to be in any of these options:

– Australian securities exchange listed assets
– Australian government or semi-government bonds or notes
– corporate bonds or notes issued by an Australian exchange listed entity (or wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian listed entity), investment grade rated Australian corporate bonds or notes rated by an AFS licenced debt rating agency
– Australian proprietary limited companies operated to make a profit by providing goods or services to the public, not as a passive or speculative investment, (such as a landlord of residential property, gambling, share trading, or holding property for capital gain)
– real property in Australia excluding residential property
– deferred annuities issued by Australian registered life companies
– state or territory government approved philanthropic contribution

To be an eligible fund, a further requirement is that cash is to be no more than 20% of a fund’s net assets and derivatives are to be used for risk management purposes only.

Premium investors may elect to make a portion or the entirety of their investment by way of a philanthropic donation (endorsed by a state or territory government.

You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continuing your business or investment activities in Australia.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English

If you have operated a business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:
– Commonwealth laws, and
– the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet character requirement.

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.

You (the primary applicant) must be the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Entrepreneur stream.

You must have held your provisional visa for a continuous period of at least 4 years immediately before you apply.

You must have a current nomination from a State or Territory government agency.

Your (the primary applicant’s) entrepreneurial activities can be assessed by looking at success factors.

You will need to show either:

– 2 key success factors, or
– 1 key success factor and 3 supporting success factors

Key success factors include:

– employing 2 or more Australians, permanent residents or other eligible persons
– generating an annual turnover of at least AUD300, 000
– filing a provisional patent or acquiring a standard or innovation patent
– receiving ongoing funding or investment in your entrepreneur activity
– entering into a partnership with a university
– selling an entrepreneurial venture for AUD2 million

Supporting success factors include:

– adapting your entrepreneurial activities into other business areas
– receiving a statement of success from a state or territory government nominator
– receiving sponsorship from the corporate sector
– starting at least 1 other business or contributing to at least 2 other businesses
– receiving formal awards or recognition
– raising or contributing to social capital

Entrepreneurial activities in Australia can’t be:

– residential real estate
– labour hire
– buying an existing enterprise or a franchise in Australia

You (the primary applicant) must have resided in Australia for at least 2 years of the 4 years that you have held the provisional visa.

You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continuing business or investment activities in Australia

You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English.

When operating your business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:

– Commonwealth laws
– the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet character requirement.

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.