Innovation & Investment Visas (888)

• You can either be in Australia or overseas when you lodge your application
• You must hold a subclass 188 Provisional Business Innovation and Investment Visa
• This visa is only available to applicants who are nominated by an Australian State or Territory government
• You must be nominated by the State or Territory Government who nominated you for the subclass 188 visa, unless you have obtained permission to change State or Territory
• You have a genuine commitment to maintain your business or investment activities in Australia
• You have a satisfactory compliance with applicable Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory laws

The Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) has two streams:

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This option requires you to have owned a business and to be intending to establish business operations in Australia. You will need to meet the following if you are applying through the Business Innovation Stream:

• Residence Requirement: you must have been in Australia for at least 1 of the 2 years prior to application
• You have had an ownership interest in an Australian business for the last 2 years Your business has an ABN and has lodged the necessary Business Activity Statements (BAS) for the last 2 years
• The business has had turnover of at least AUD 300,000 for the last 12 months. Exception: if you reside in a regional area, operate a business there and the State or Territory Government has indicated there are exceptional circumstances

You must meet 2 of the following 3 criteria for the 12 months prior to application:

• Net assets in the business of at least AUD 200,000
• 2 Full Time Equivalent employees working in the business – these employees must not be relatives, and must be Australian permanent residents, citizens or NZ passport holders
• Net personal assets of at least AUD 600,000

[/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Investor Stream”]

• For this option, you must hold an Investment Stream Subclass 188 provisional visa
• have been in Australia for at least 2 of the last 4 years
• maintained the AUD 1.5 million investment in Australian State or Territory Bonds for a continuous period of 4 years

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