The Business Innovation and Investment Visa (888 visa) is a permanent visa and has four steams under which an applicant can apply. Applicants must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory Government and must have met all the requirements of the Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) within the stream in which it was applied for.
a. The Business Innovation stream is for applicants who own and manage a business in Australia.
b. The Investor stream is for applicants who have a designated investment in an Australian state or territory and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia after the original investment has matured.
c. The Significant Investor stream is for applicants who are willing to invest a significant amount of money (AUD$5,000,000) into complying investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia after the original investment has matured.
d. The Entrepreneur stream is for successful entrepreneurs to continue their business in Australia and stay permanently.
Am I eligible for a Business Innovation and Investment visa via the Business Innovation stream?
- I have/will have sponsorship from a State/Territory government
- I hold a Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) in the Business Innovation stream or in the Business Innovation Extension Stream or a Special Category Visa (444 visa) for at least 3 years and have been physically present in Australia for at least 1 year in the 3 years immediately before I apply for the visa
- I do not have a history of involvement in business or investment activities that are of a nature that is not generally acceptable in Australia
- I have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain business or investment activities in Australia
- I have a satisfactory record of compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, and of each State or Territory in which I operate a business and employ employees in the business
- I have had and continue to have an ownership interest (and direct and continuous management) in at least one actively operating main business in Australia during the 2 years immediately before I apply for the visa
- My business has an Australian Business Number (ABN) and I have submitted Business Activity Statement (BAS) regularly to the Australian Taxation Office in the last two years
- I meet the following business turnover criteria for the last 24 months (depending on my ownership interest within the business):
- 51% of the total value of a business with a turnover of less than AUD$400,000 or
- 30% of the total value of a business with a turnover of AUD$400,000 or more per year, or
- 10% of the total value of a business that is operated by a public company
- If the nominating State or Territory government agency has not determined that there are exceptional circumstances then my main business in Australia, or main businesses in Australia, had an annual turnover of at least AUD$300,000 in the 12 months immediately before I apply for the visa AND at least 2 of the following are met:
- I own assets in the main business or main businesses in Australia of least AUD$200,000 throughout the period of 12 months immediately before I apply for the visa AND these assets continue to have a net value of at least AUD$200,000
- I have business and personal assets of least AUD$600 000 in the period of 12 months ending immediately before I apply for the visa AND these assets continue to have a net value of at least AUD$600,000
- In the period of 12 months immediately before I apply for the visa, I provided employment in Australia to 2 or more employees for a total number of hours that was at least the total number of hours that would have been worked by 2 full-time employees. These employees were Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or the holder of a valid New Zealand passport and were not members of my family unit.
- I meet the health and character requirements.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia indefinitely with my family who were included in the application
- Travel in and out of Australia for the five years from the date the visa is granted. Thereafter I would need to apply for a Residents Return Visa
- Work, operate a business, study in Australia – if I choose to
- Buy property with the same terms and conditions as Australian citizens
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
Am I eligible for a Business Innovation and Investment visa via the Investor stream?
- I have/will have sponsorship from a State/Territory government
- I hold a Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) and have held it for at least 3 years
- I have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain my investment activities in Australia
- The designated investment/s I used to satisfy the criterion for the grant of my Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) has been held continuously for the whole period
- I have been physically present in Australia for at least 2 years in the 3 years before I apply
- I meet the health and character requirements.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia indefinitely with my family who were included in the application
- Travel in and out of Australia for the five years from the date the visa is granted. Thereafter I would need to apply for a Resident Return Visa
- Work, operate a business, study in Australia – if I choose to
- Buy property with the same terms and conditions as Australian citizens
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
Am I eligible for a Business Innovation and Investment visa via the Significant Investor stream?
- I have/will have sponsorship from a State/Territory government
- I hold a Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) in the Significant Investor Stream OR in the Significant Investor Extension stream and have held it for at least 4 years
- I have/will have been in Australia for a cumulative period of 40 days for each year or part year that I have held my Subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream and the Significant Investor Extension stream
- I have held the complying investment for the whole period during which I held my Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188)
- I have a satisfactory record of compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, and of each State or Territory in which I operate a business and employ employees in the business
- I have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain my investment activities in Australia
- I meet the health and character requirements.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia indefinitely with my family who were included in the application
- Travel in and out of Australia for the five years from the date the visa is granted. Thereafter I would need to apply for a Resident Return Visa
- Work, operate a business, study in Australia – if I choose to
- Buy property with the same terms and conditions as Australian citizens
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
Am I eligible for a Business Innovation and Investment visa via the Entrepreneur stream?
- I have/will have sponsorship from a State/Territory government
- I hold a Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa) and have held it for at least 3 years
- I have been physically present in Australia for at least 2 years of the 4 years while holding the provisional Business Innovation and Investment Visa (188 visa)
- I have met the following criteria:
- 2 key success factors; OR
- 1 key success factor and 3 support success factors.
- I have a satisfactory record of compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, and of each State or Territory in which I operate a business and employ employees in the business
- I have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain my investment activities in Australia
- I meet the health and character requirements.
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 AUD$2,000,000.
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.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia indefinitely with my family who were included in the application
- Travel in and out of Australia for the five years from the date the visa is granted. Thereafter I would need to apply for a Resident Return Visa
- Work, operate a business, study in Australia – if I choose to
- Buy property with the same terms and conditions as Australian citizens
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
We chose Immigration Downunder for our spouse visa application as Joe had already had a great experience with them before with a work visa. From the beginning to the end of our visa application Ben and Kelly demonstrated their expertise in this area and they made us feel confident in our application. We also felt they went above and beyond our expectations, by helping us to lodge our initial application in a short time frame to assist us in starting the process on-shore before Joe needed to travel again for work. We are pleased to say we were successful with our application and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Immigration Downunder to others.