Requirements for Business Innovation and Investment Subclass 888 Visa Streams

The Australian economy is considered welcoming to foreign investors and business owners. As one of the most stable global economies with immense growth opportunities, many immigrating business owners find themselves building successful and lasting careers here.

That is why the Australian government has numerous business visas specifically aimed at business owners and investors. They allow the owners and their families to reside and conduct business in Australia.

This article overviews the Different Streams of Visa subclass 888 (Permanent).

What is the Visa Subclass 888 (Permanent)?

This business and residential visa allows individuals living in Australia under subclass 444 and 188 Visa to live and conduct business in Australia permanently, access health care and apply for citizenship. This visa applies to business owners, entrepreneurs, investors and their respective families and partners.

This visa is divided into five major subparts with their own eligibility criteria, requirements and range of permissibility.

1. Business Innovation Stream

This stream of the Business Innovation and Investment Visa allows individuals already possessing the provisional visa under Subclass 188 or Subclass 444 (special category) or some Subclass 457 Business (Long Stay) owners to live and conduct business in Australia permanently.

The requirements for this visa are:

• Own a provisional Visa of subclass 188 in this Business Innovation stream.
• Holds a special category visa (subclass 444)
• Own a provisional visa of subclass 188 in the Business Innovation Extension stream or, in specific cases, the Subclass 457
• Have an annual business turnover of more than AUD 300,000
• Be nominated by the territory or state government agency where you’ve resided for at least 2 years.

Read Also – Subclass 891 Visa Requirements 

2. Investor Stream

This stream of the Business Innovation and Investment Visa subclass 888 (Permanent) allows individuals and investors to continue their business investments in Australia indefinitely.

The requirements for this visa are as follows:

• You must be a primary owner of the provisional Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) Visa of subclass 188 under the Investor stream.
• Be nominated by the government agency in the territory or state where you’ve resided for at least 2 years.
• Hold a “complying significant investment” for the entire period when you held the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) Visa Subclass 188
• Hold a designated investment or a minimum of AUD 1.5 million in an Australian territory or state.

3. Significant investor Stream

Like the investor stream, the significant investor stream allows individuals to continue their investments in Australia indefinitely. However, it has slightly different eligibility criteria and requirements that include:

• Own a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) Visa of subclass 188 under the Significant Investor Stream or the Significant Investor Extension Stream.
• Be nominated by the territory or state government agency.
• Have a “complying investment” of at least AUD 5 million for at least 4 years during which you held the Business Innovation and Investment provisional visa.

4. Premium investor stream

Similar to the previous investment visa streams, the Premium Investor Stream allows you to continue your investments in Australia permanently. However, it maintains a higher compliance investment margin.

The requirements for this visa are as follows:

• Own a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) Visa subclass 188 under the Premium Investor Stream.
• A nomination from Asutrade that has not been withdrawn
• Have a complying investment of at least AUD 12 million for a continuous period of at least 12 months, during which you owned the business innovation and investment provisional visa.

5. Entrepreneur stream

This visa stream allows individuals to indefinitely continue the entrepreneurial activities that they started under the provisional visa subclass 188 in the Entrepreneur Stream in Australia.

The requirements for this visa are:

• Currently hold, or in certain cases, have previously held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) Visa subclass 188 in the entrepreneur stream.
• Have a nomination from the government agency from the state or territory
• Have a successful and exemplary record of business operation and entrepreneurial activities. The success of your business must be proved with either 2 key success elements or 1 key success element with 3 supporting success elements.

Summing up

With the large list of eligibility criteria, required documents proof, and numerous sub-groups to correctly identify, tackling business visas in Australia can be quite challenging. Expert migration lawyers in Perth are best equipped to guide you through your visa applications and minimize the chance of oversights or systemic knots.

Contact the team of the Best Investor Visa Lawyers Perth to make the next big move in your career and life as stress-free as possible.