You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency, before being invited to apply for this visa.

For 2 out of 4 fiscal years immediately before you receive an invitation to apply, you must have had an ownership stake in 1 or 2 businesses that had at least AUD500,000 turnover in each of those 2 years.

Whether you have 1 or 2 businesses, you must own at least:

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

If your business provides professional, technical or trade services, you must have spent less than half your time providing those services, rather than general management of the business.

When you are invited to apply for this visa, you, your partner, or you and your partner combined must have total net business and personal assets of at least AUD800,000. Your funds must be available to transfer to Australia within 2 years of us granting the visa.

You must score at least 65 points on the points test.

You can get points for many reasons, including your:

– age
– English language ability
– qualifications
– business experience
– net personal and business assets
– business turnover
– innovation
– special endorsement

You must have a successful business career and a genuine desire to continuously own and manage a business in Australia.

You will not receive an invitation if you are aged 55 or older at the time of the invitation to apply for the visa

You and your partner must have had no history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

All applicants aged 18 or over at the time of application must either have at least functional English or you will be asked to pay the second installment of the visa application charge.

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

You and family members aged 16 years and 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 nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency before being invited to apply for this visa.

Have managed a qualifying business or investments to the value of at least AUD1.5million.

For at least 1 of the 5 fiscal years immediately before you are invited to apply, have directly managed one of the following:

– a qualifying business in which you, your partner or you and your partner combined had at least 10% ownership interest, or
– a eligible investment of at least AUD1.5 million owned by you, your partner or you and your partner combined.

Have assets of AUD2.25 million

For the 2 fiscal years immediately before you are invited to apply, you, your partner, or you and your partner together, have business and personal assets with a net value of at least AUD2.25 million. These assets must have been lawfully acquired and be available for transfer to Australia within 2 years of the visa being granted.

Make an investment of AUD1.5 million in your nominating State or Territory

– After you lodge your application, you must make a designated investment of at least AUD1.5 million in the State or Territory in which the nominating State or Territory government agency is located
– This investment must be in your name or in your name and your partner’s name. The investment must be made from unencumbered funds generated from qualifying businesses or eligible investments.
– To be eligible for the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) Investor stream, you must hold the designated investment for at least 4 years from the date the investment certificate is issued by your nominating State or Territory.

Have at least 3 years’ experience managing one or more qualifying businesses or eligible investments.

Have a successful record of eligible investment or qualifying business activity.

Have demonstrated a high level of management skill in relation to the eligible investment or qualifying business activity.

You must score at least 65 points on the points test.

You can get points for many reasons, including your:

– age
– English language ability
– qualifications
– business experience
– net personal and business assets
– business turnover
– innovation
– special endorsement

You must have a genuine intention to live for at least 2 years in the State or Territory in which you have made the investment application.

You will not receive an invitation if you are aged 55 or older at the time of the invitation to apply for the visa.

You and your partner must not have a history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

All applicants aged 18 or over at the time of application must either have at least functional English or you will be asked to pay the second installment of the visa application charge.

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 nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency or Austrade before being invited to apply for this visa.

To be granted this visa, you must make (on or after the time of application for this visa), a complying significant investment of at least AUD5 million when you are invited to, and have a genuine intention to hold that investment for at least 4 years.

It must be invested in the following proportions:

– at least AUD500,000 in venture capital and growth private equity funds which invest in start-ups and small private companies
– at least AUD1.5 million in approved managed funds. The managed funds must invest in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
– a ‘balancing investment’ of at least AUD3 million in managed funds

The managed funds can invest in a range of assets, including companies listed on the Australian stock exchange, Australian corporate bonds or notes, annuities and commercial real estate.

Direct investment in residential real estate is prohibited. Indirect investment in residential property through managed funds is strictly limited.

You must not use investments as security or collateral for a loan.

You and your partner must have had no history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

All applicants aged 18 or over at the time of application must either have at least functional English or you will be asked to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge.

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 already hold a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Innovation stream and have held it for at least three years.

You must not have held more than one Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream.

You must be able to demonstrate your business activities are of a nature that will require a substantial presence in Australia to operate your business and manage its day-to-day affairs.

Your main business must have been operating actively in Australia for at least 2 years immediately before applying for this visa.

You must also continue to have an ownership interest in that main business.

You must have maintained your commitment to stay directly involved in the day-to-day management and decision-making of the business.

You must have a current nomination from a State or Territory agency before being invited to apply for this visa.

You and your partner must have had no history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

All applicants aged 18 or over at time of application who did not pay a second installment of the visa application charge for a previous subclass 188 visa application, must either have functional English or you will be asked to pay the second installment of the visa application charge.

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 not have held more than one Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Significant Investor Extension stream visa.

You must continue to hold your complying significant investment in accordance with the complying investment framework in place at the time you applied for this visa.

You and your partner must have had no history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

If a family member who is part of your application did not pay a second instalment of the visa application charge for a previous subclass 188 visa application, they must be assessed as having functional English or you will need to pay the second instalment.

Most applicants who met health requirements for their subclass 188 visa application do not need to meet health requirements again for their subclass 188 extension visa.

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 nominated by Austrade before being invited to apply for this visa.

First you must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). If Austrade accepts your EOI and nominates you, the Department will invite you to apply for this visa.

After you lodge your application, you must make a complying premium investment of at least AUD15 million in any of the following 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 that operate qualifying businesses (providing goods or services to the public with a profit-making intention, and not passive or speculative in nature)
– 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.

Income that you earn from your complying premium investment in Australia is subject to tax under Australian taxation law.

You must also have a genuine and realistic commitment to continue your investment activity in Australia after your visa ends.

You must have net assets of at least AUD15 million. These assets could belong to you, your partner, or you and your partner combined. They must be legally acquired, unencumbered, and available to make the complying premium investment in Australia.

You and your partner must not have a history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

You must agree not to bring any action against the Commonwealth for any loss relating to your complying premium investment.

This also applies to any member of the family unit 18 years of age or older who is also an applicant for this visa.

All applicants aged 18 or over at time of application must have at least functional English. If you are unable to prove they have functional English you will have to pay the second instalment.

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.

First, you must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). If an Australian State or Territory government agency accepts your EOI and nominates you, the Department will invite you to apply for this visa.

You must be nominated by a State or Territory government agency before being invited to apply for this visa.

You will not receive an invitation if you are aged 55 or older, at the time of the invitation to apply for the visa.

You must be undertaking, or proposing to undertake, a complying entrepreneur activity in Australia. You must have a genuine intention to continue this activity.

A complying entrepreneur activity must relate to an innovative idea that will lead to:

– the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia, or
– the development of an enterprise or business in Australia

This activity must not relate to any of the following categories:

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

You must have one or more legally enforceable agreements to receive funding with a total of at least AUD200,000. The funding must be from one of the following entities:
– Commonwealth Government agency
– State or Territory government agency
– Publicly funded research or innovation organisation
– Higher education provider specified as a Table A or Table B provider under Part 2-1 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003
– Investor registered as an Australian Venture Capital Limited Partnership or Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership

At least 10% of the funding must be payable to the entrepreneurial entity within 12 months of the activity starting in Australia. This must be in the agreement.

The entity that will conduct the activity (the entrepreneurial entity) must be either an individual (yourself), a company or a partnership.

You must have held at least 30% interest in your entrepreneurial entity when you entered into the agreement.

You must also have a business plan for the entrepreneurial entity. This business plan should note how your innovative idea will lead to:
– The commercialisation of a product or service in Australia, or
– The development of an enterprise or business in Australia

All of the funding provided or to be provided to the entrepreneurial entity under the agreement or agreements is unencumbered and lawfully acquired.

You and your partner must not have a history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia.

You must have at least competent 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.