Australia Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) Visa (Subclass 888)
For entrepreneurs, investors and business owners to continue their activity in Australia.
Business Innovation Stream
This visa lets holders and certain people who have held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream or the Business Innovation Extension stream, or holders of a subclass 444 (Special Category) visa, or certain holders of a subclass 457 (Business (Long Stay) visa, stay permanently.
- you must apply online
- you must hold a subclass 188 in the business innovation stream, subclass 444 visa or certain holders of subclass 457 visa
- you must be able to show ongoing business involvement
With this visa, you can
- stay in Australia permanently
- work and study in Australia
- enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
- sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
- travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- if eligible apply for Australian citizenship
How long you can stay
This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia permanently.
For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:
- we grant the visa if you are in Australia
- you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia when we grant this visa
Include family
You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add children to your application at any time before we decide on your application.
Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements.
Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health and character requirements.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicant must be the primary holder of
-
- 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 or Business Innovation Extension stream.
- Be nominated – You must have a current nomination from a state or territory government agency.
- Own and manage a business in Australia
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
Business acquisition
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.
· Have an annual business turnover of AUD 300,000
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.
You might not need to have a turnover of AUD 300,000 if the nominating State or Territory government agency has determined that there are exceptional circumstances.
- Meet the assets and employees requirement
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 AUD 200,000 net value in your main business (or 2 main businesses) in Australia
- personal and business assets in Australia of AUD 600,000 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
You might not need to meet the assets and employees requirement if the nominating State or Territory government agency has determined that there are exceptional circumstances
- Have followed Australian Laws
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.
- Functional English – Must meet the required English language test score
- Meet the residence requirement
Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, you must have been physically present 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
- Not have been involved in unacceptable business activities
- Have a realistic commitment to continuing business activities
- Meet health and character requirement
- Sign Australian values statement
- Have no debt to the Australian government
- Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused
Investor Stream
This visa lets you continue your investment activities in Australia permanently.
- you must apply online
- you must hold a subclass 188 in the investor stream
- you must have held a designated investment of AUD 1.5 million for 4 years
With this visa, you can
- stay in Australia permanently
- work and study in Australia
- enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
- sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
- travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- if eligible apply for Australian citizenship
How long you can stay
This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia permanently.
For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:
- we grant the visa, if you are in Australia
- you first enter Australia on this visa, if you are outside Australia when we grant this visa
Include family
You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add children to your application at any time before we decide on your application.
Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements.
Family members, who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health and character requirements.
Eligibility Criteria
Have this visa – Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, 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
Be nominated – You must have a current nomination from a state or territory. When you applied for your provisional visa, you gave us an Expression of Interest. A state or territory saw your Expression of Interest and nominated you.
Have held your designated investment – When you applied for your provisional visa, you invested AUD1.5 million in an Australian state or territory. We call this 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
- 3 years and 11 months if the provisional visa was granted on the basis of an application made before 1 July 2015.
Your designated investment must have been held continuously in your name, or in the names of yourself and your spouse or de facto partner together.
Meet the residence requirement – Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, you must have lived in Australia for at least 2 of the 4 years immediately before you apply as the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream.
Not have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities – You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.
Have a realistic commitment to continuing business or investment activities – You must have a realistic commitment to continuing your business or investment activities in Australia.
Have followed Australian laws – 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.
Have functional English
Meet health and character requirement – You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet our character requirement.
Family members who are not coming to Australia must also meet our character requirement.
Sign the Australian values statement
Have no debt to the Australian government
Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused
Significant Investor stream
This visa lets you continue your investment activities in Australia permanently.
- you must apply online
- you must hold a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream
- you must have held a complying investment of AUD 5 million for 4 years
With this visa, you can
- stay in Australia permanently
- work and study in Australia
- enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
- sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
- travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- if eligible apply for Australian citizenship
Newly arrived residents may have to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits.
How long you can stay
This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely.
For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:
- we grant the visa, if you are in Australia
- you first enter Australia on this visa, if you are outside Australia when we grant this visa
Include family
You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add children to your application at any time before we decide on your application.
Family members who apply for the visa must meet health and character requirements.
Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet health and character requirements.
Eligibility Criteria
Have this visa –
Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, 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.
Be nominated – You must have a current nomination from a state or territory government agency or Austrade. When you applied for your provisional visa, you gave us an expression of interest. A state or territory saw your expression of interest and nominated you.
Have held your complying investment or complying significant investment for the required period of time –
When we 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’.