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188B INVESTOR

STREAM

188B visa is only available to applicants who are nominated by an Australian State or Territory government. This is a 4-year temporary visa, for people who want to make a designated investment in an Australian state or territory.

 

The investment can be in stocks, bonds, business, realty, funds, gold, etc. After maintained an investment in Australian for 4 years, the applicant can apply for permanent residence through the Business Innovation & Investment (Residence) Subclass 888 visa. The applicants can either be in Australia or overseas to lodge this visa.

REQUIREMENTS

Under 55 years of age, unless the nominating state or territory certifies that the applicant will make an exceptional economic benefit.

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Score at least 65 at Innovation Points Test.

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During the 2 fiscal years immediately before we invite you to apply, have legally acquired net business, investment, and personal assets of at least AUD2.5 million. These must be available for legal transfer to Australia within 2 years of the visa being granted.

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A qualifying business in which you, your partner, or you and your partner combined had at least 10% ownership interest, or eligible investments owned by you, your partner or you and your partner combined of at least AUD2.5 million.

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Equip good management skills and eligible business investment skills.

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At least 3 years experience managing one or more qualifying businesses or eligible investments.

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Have a successful business career.

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The applicant must make an investment of AUD 2.5 million in Australian State or Territory bonds prior to the grant of the visa.

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Have had no involvement in unacceptable activities.

Requirements

Requirements

BENEFITS

No need to own a business.

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Investing in bonds specified by the government is relatively safe.

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No specific English requirement.

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Bring eligible family members to stay, study, or work in Australia.

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Multiple entry visa. You can travel outside Australia and return as many times as you want while the visa is valid

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Children can enroll in public schools for free during the Visa period. 

No need to own a business.

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Investing in bonds specified by the government is relatively safe.

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No specific English requirement.

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Bring eligible family members to stay, study, or work in Australia.

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Multiple entry visa. You can travel outside Australia and return as many times as you want while the visa is valid

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Children can enroll in public schools for free during the Visa period. 

Victoria 188B Visa

How to Apply?

To apply for Victorian Investor stream (subclass 188B) visa nomination you must:

  1. Make an Expression of Interest with SkillSelect.

  2. Prepare your evidence to support your application.

  3. Review the Supporting Information.

  4. Submit a nomination application via the Live in Melbourne portal external link

Respond to any requests for further information within 2 weeks.

After you apply

  1. The Skilled and Business Migration Program will assess your application.

  2. We will email you if we require more information to support your application. You must respond within 2 weeks.

  3. We aim to finalise all applications within 20 business days. See the Program Review page for current assessment times.

Once you are nominated

  1. You and your agent will be notified of our decision by email.

  2. Submit your visa application to the Department of Home Affairs within 60 days. We cannot provide renomination if your visa application is not submitted in time.

  3. Keep your contact details up to date so we can provide you important services. We have a dedicated Relationship Management team who may contact you to assist you to navigate the Victorian business environment.

  4. Comply with your Victorian nomination obligations for subclass 188B.

NSW 188B Visa

Personal background

You must be under 50 years of age and have either:

  • a bachelor's degree recognised as equivalent to the Australian standard, or

  • in the past 10 years have at least:

    • 5 years of successful investment history, or

    • 3 years work experience in a NSW target sector, or 

    • 5 years work experience in a non-target sector

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Investment background

For at least one of the five most recent fiscal years, you have directly managed one of the following:

  • a qualifying business in which you, your partner, or you and your partner together had at least 10% ownership interest, or

  • an eligible investment of at least A$2,500,000 owned by you, your partner, or you and your partner together

Queensland 188B Visa

Requirements

  • Be nominated by a State or Territory government agency to invest at least

    • AUD2.5 million that meets certain requirements if you were invited to apply on or after 1 July 2021

    • AUD1.5 million in an Australian State or Territory if you were invited to apply before 1 July 2021

  • Score at least 65 on the points test

  • Have net business, investment and personal assets of at least AUD2.5 million

How to Apply?

Step 1

Review your eligibility criteria, visa conditions, and document checklist on the Department of Home Affairs website and the Migration Queensland website.

 

Ensure that you meet both the Home Affairs criteria and Migration Queensland criteria and that you have all your documentation ready before you apply.

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Step 2

For Queensland state nomination, submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) with Skill Select. Ensure that all information, such as employment experience, is included in your EOI.

 

Preference will be given to applicants who select “Queensland” as their nominating state of choice over applicants who select “Any” state.

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Step 3

Migration Queensland assesses all EOIs that meet the above Home Affairs and Migration Queensland criteria. If you are successful, you will receive an email invitation to lodge an application and be requested to provide the following documents.

  • Queensland State Nomination Application form

  • Summary of your business and investment background

  • Home Affairs Form 1139A (showing the last three financial years)

  • Passport Bio-page

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Note: You must upload these documents digitally through the Document Portal link in your invitation email. Migration Queensland no longer accepts documents sent by email or post. You can only upload one document per file. If you have multiple documents, please merge, and save them as one file.

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Step 4

When you have received your invitation from Migration Queensland:

  1. upload the required documents, and

  2. pay the non-refundable application fee to finalise your application. Do not pay the fee until you have been invited to apply and all your documents have been uploaded.

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Migration Queensland will then review your application and may contact you if further information is required.

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Note: You will be given 14 days to finalise your application from the date of invitation. If you are unable to provide the relevant information within this time frame, you must seek an extension from Migration Queensland.

 

Applications not finalised within the time frame will be closed and you will need to submit a new EOI if you wish to seek Queensland nomination again.

Step 5

Once Migration Queensland has received and approved your completed application, you will receive a confirmation of Queensland nomination and an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs to lodge your visa application. You will be given 60 days to lodge your application with them.

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Note: If you realise that you have made a mistake on your submitted EOI after receiving a nomination, or if you miss the visa application lodgement date, you may have to wait 6 months before applying for Queensland nomination again.

Connect

Western Australia 188B Visa

  • Applicants must meet the DHA criteria for this visa.

  • Applicants must also:

  • propose net assets of at least $2.5 million in complying investments as specified by the DHA;

  • agree to re-invest the $2.5 million complying investments into any Western Australian assets, upon maturity; and 

  • applicants and any family members (dependents) residing in Australia are required to live, work and/or study in Western Australia.

Requirements

South Australia 188B Visa

Requirements

To meet the South Australian nomination requirements you must:

  • Meet Department of Home Affairs 188 investment stream criteria

  • Intend to live in South Australia

  • Agree to make and maintain an investment of AUD$2.5 million (AUD$3.75 million if over 55 year of age) for the duration of the provisional visa in a complying investment fund. The complying investment fund must materially benefit South Australia.

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This visa provided a pathway to permanent residency. After three years you may be eligible to apply for the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa - subclass 888.

Once you have ensured you meet all visa and nomination criteria, and prepared all documentation required for your application:

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  1. Lodge an EOI through Department of Home Affairs SkillSelect website. Choose South Australia as your preferred state and select the visa stream you want nomination for. Keep note of the reference number as you will need it for your state nomination application.

  2. Create an account and submit an online application for state nomination via the Skilled & Business Migration portal.

  3. You will receive email notification once your state nomination application has been processed by the Skilled & Business Migration team.

  4. If you are approved for state nomination, you will receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs asking you to lodge your visa application within 60 days of nomination.

  5. You must lodge your application within this timeframe as re-nomination is not permitted within the same program year unless a new state nomination application is submitted. This will incur a new application fee and approval is subject to the availability of nomination places in the stream selected.

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