Subclass 888 Permanent Business Innovation and Investment Visas

The Subclass 888 Business Innovation and Investment (Residence) visa is the permanent stage for the subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment visa. There are two streams depending on which stream was applied for at the provisional visa stage:

• Business Innovation Stream: requires you to have established a business in Australia which meets certain asset and turnover requirements
• Investor Stream: you must have held an investment in Australia bonds for 4 years

Do I Apply in Australia or Overseas?

You can either be in Australia or overseas when you lodge your application.

In most cases, you must hold a subclass 188 Provisional Business Innovation and Investment Visa. The primary visa holder for the subclass 188 visa must in general be the primary applicant for the subclass 888 visa, rather than the spouse or partner. The only exception is where your relationship has ceased due to separation or death of the primary visa holder.

The application must be lodged online via the internet.

State/Territory Nomination

This visa is only available to applicants who are nominated by an Australian State or Territory government.

Common Criteria

All applicants must meet the following criteria:

• 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 committment to maintain your business or investment activities in Australia
• You have a satisfactory compliance with applicable Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory laws

Business Innovation Stream Requirements

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:
  1. Net assets in the business of at least AUD 200,000
  2. 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
  3. Net personal assets of at least AUD 600,000

Investor Stream Requirements

For this option, you must hold an Investment Stream Subclass 188 provisional visa, and meet the following criteria:

• Residence Requirement: you must have been in Australia for at least 2 of the last 4 years
• You must have maintained the AUD 1.5 million investment in Australian State or Territory Bonds for a continuous period of 4 years

Note that business migration can be extremely complex, and even determining whether you have a good chance of qualifying can be difficult. In addition, you may be able to qualify in a number of different business migration categories.