Business/Investor Visas

The Business and Investor Immigration pathway is designed for entrepreneurs or professional investors who want to own and run a business/undertake investment activities in Australia and eventually obtain permanent residency.

Subclass 188 has multiple streams, those are

  • Business Innovation stream
  • Investor Stream
  • Significant Investor stream
  • Entrepreneur stream

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Business Innovation visa, you must be:

  • Be under 55 years old.
  • Have functional English.
  • Must have a successful business career
  • Score at least 65 points on the points test.
  • Not have a history of involvement in unacceptable activities.
  • Be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government.
  • For 2 out of 4 years before applying, you must have had an ownership stake in a business that had at least AUD 750,000 turnover for two years.
  • You must own (in 1 or 2 businesses) at least:
    • 51% of the total value of the business if the business has less than AUD400,000 turnover per year.
    • 30% of the total value of the business if the business has AUD400,000 or more turnover per year.
    • 10%, of the total value of the business if the business is operated by a publicly listed company.
  • You and/or your partner combined must have total net business and personal assets of at least 1.25 million.

To be eligible for an Investor Stream visa, you must be:

  • Be under 55 years old.
  • Have functional English.
  • Be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government.
  • Intend to live in a specific State or Territory
  • Score at least 65 points on the points test.
  • Not have a history of involvement in unacceptable activities.

Manage Qualifying Businesses or eligible investment

For at least 1 of the 5 fiscal years immediately before we invite you 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 AUD 2.5 million owned by you, your partner, or you and your partner combined, if invited on or after 1 July 2021.

Required Assets

For the 2 fiscal years immediately before invitation, you, your partner, or you and your partner together, have business and personal assets with a net value of at least:

  • AUD2.5 million if you were invited to apply on or after 1 July 2021.
  • For at least 1 of the five fiscal years before applying, you must 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
    • An eligible investment of at least AUD 2.5 million is owned by you and/or your partner.

Invest in Australia

If you were invited to apply for this visa on or after 1 July 2021, you must make (on or after the time of application for this visa), a complying significant investment of at least AUD2.5 million. You must hold complying significant investments continuously for the life of your provisional visa.

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 AUD750,000 in approved managed funds. The managed funds must invest in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
  • a ‘balancing investment’ of at least AUD1.25 million in managed funds.

Have the right experience

You must have had:

  • have at least three years of experience managing qualifying businesses or eligible investments.
  • have a successful record and demonstrated a high level of management skill of suitable investment/qualifying business activity.
  • have a successful record of eligible investment or qualifying business activity.

To be eligible for a Significant Investor visa, you must be:

  • Be under 55 years old.
  • Have functional English.
  • Be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency
  • Not have a history of involvement in unacceptable activities
  • If you were invited to apply on or after 1 July 2021, you must make (on or after the time of application for this visa), a complying significant investment of at least AUD5 million when we invite you to and have a genuine intention to hold that investment for the life of your provisional visa.

To be eligible for an Entrepreneur Stream visa, you must be:

  • Be under 55 years old.
  • Have competent English.
  • Be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency
  • Receive an Invitation to apply for a 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.
  • If you were invited to apply for this visa on or after 1 July 2021, you must be endorsed by your nominating State or Territory government agency to develop your entrepreneurial concepts.