Business Migration

Business Visa Options

The 5 business visas described below – Business Innovation stream, Investor Stream, Significant Investor Stream, Premium Investor Stream and Entrepreneur Stream are temporay visas. Once you are granted one of these temporary visas and you meet the business or investment criteria for permanent residence you will then be able to apply for permanent residency.

Business Innovation stream

• You must be under 55 years old.
• Score at least 65 on the Points Test.
• For two out of the four fiscal years immediately before you are invited to apply, have had an ownership interest in an established business or businesses that had at least AUD500 000 turnover in each of those years.
• Own at least one of the following percentages of your nominated main business:

  51 per cent, if the business has a turnover of less than AUD400 000 per year.

  30 per cent, if the business has a turnover of AUD400 000 or more per year.

  10 per cent, if the business is a publicly listed company.

• Have an overall successful business career.
• Have a genuine desire to continuously own and maintain a management role in a business in Australia;
• You, your partner, or you and your partner combined must have total net assets of at least AUD800 000 that are lawfully acquired and available for legal transfer to Australia within two years of the visa being granted.
• You and your partner must have had no involvement in unacceptable business or investment activities.

Investor Stream

• You must be under 55 years old.
• Score at least 65 on the Points Test.
• Have a high level of management skills in relation to the eligible investment or qualifying business activity.
• Have at least three years’ experience of direct involvement in managing one or more qualifying businesses or eligible investments
• Have an overall successful record of eligible investment or qualifying business activity.
• Have a genuine and realistic commitment to continuing your business and investment activity in Australia after the original investment has matured.
• Have a genuine intention to live for at least two years in the state or territory in which you have made a designated investment.
• You, your partner, or you and your partner combined must for at least one of the five fiscal years immediately before you are invited to apply, have directly managed one of the following:

  A qualifying business in which you, your partner or you and your partner combined had at least 10 per cent ownership interest,

  or

  Eligible investments owned by you, your partner or you and your partner combined of at least AUD1.5million.

• During the two fiscal years immediately before you are invited to apply, have legally acquired net business, investment and personal assets of at least AUD2.25 million that are available for legal transfer to Australia within two years of the visa being granted.
• Make a designated investment of at least AUD1.5 million in a state or territory government security using unencumbered funds accumulated from qualifying businesses or eligible investments and be prepared to hold that investment for at least four years from date of issue in your nominating state or territory.
• Have had no involvement in unacceptable activities.

Significant Investor Stream

You must have a genuine and realistic commitment to:

• reside in the state or territory whose government agency nominated you.
• continue your business and investment activity in Australia after the conclusion of your provisional visa.
• live in Australia for at least 40 days per year (calculated cumulatively) for the duration of your provisional visa, or your spouse to live for at least 180 days per year (calculated cumulatively) for the duration of your provisional visa.
• You, your partner, or you and your partner combined must have net assets of at least AUD5 million that are legally acquired, unencumbered, and available to be used to make the complying investment in Australia.
• You and your partner must not have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities.
• You, members of your family unit aged at least 18 must agree not to bring any action against the Commonwealth for any loss relating to your complying investment.
• Income that you earn from your complying investment in Australia is subject to tax under Australian taxation law.
• You must also make a complying investment or a complying significant investment of at least AUD5 million over four years.
• The Significant Investor Stream is not points tested.

Premium Investor Stream

The Premium Investor stream is by nomination of Austrade on behalf of the Australian government only. You must make a complying investment of at least AUD15 million in any of the following options:

• Australian securities exchange listed assets.
• Australian government or semi-government bonds or notes.
• Corporate bonds or notes issued by an Australian exchange listed entity (or wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian listed entity) or investment grade rated Australian corporate bonds or notes rated by an AFS licenced debt rating agency.
• Australian proprietary limited companies.
• Real property in Australia excluding residential property.
• Deferred annuities issued by Australian registered life companies.
• State or territory government approved philanthropic contribution.
• Income that you earn from your complying investment in Australia is subject to tax under Australian taxation law.
• You must also have a genuine and realistic commitment to continue your business and investment activity in Australia after the conclusion of your provisional visa.
• You, your partner (spouse or de facto), or you and your partner combined must have net assets of at least AUD15 million that are legally acquired, unencumbered, and available to be used to make the complying investment in Australia.
• You and your partner must not have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities.
• You, your partner and other family members aged at least 18 must agree not to bring any action against the Commonwealth for any loss relating to your complying investment.

Entrepreneur Stream

You must:

• be under 55 years of age, although a state or territory can waive this requirement if your proposed complying entrepreneur activity will be of exceptional economic benefit to the nominating state or territory.
• have competent English and be able to provide evidence of this at the time you are invited to apply for the visa.
• be undertaking or proposing to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity in Australia and have a genuine intention to continue this activity.

• A Complying Entrepreneur Activity is an activity that relates to an innovative idea that will lead to the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia, or the development of an enterprise or business in Australia.

  This activity must not relate to any of the following excluded categories:

  • Residential real estate
  • Labour hire
  • Purchase of an existing enterprise or a franchise in Australia.
  
  

  An activity is a complying entrepreneur activity if all of the following requirements are met:

• you have one or more legally enforceable agreements to receive funding with a total of at least AUD200 000 from one of the following entities:

  • Commonwealth Government agency
  • State or Territory Government
  • Publicly Funded Research Organisation
  • Investor registered as an Australian Venture Capital Limited Partnership or Early State Venture Capital Limited Partnership
  • Specified Higher Education Provider
  
  
• under the agreement at least 10 per cent of the funding must be payable to the entrepreneurial entity within 12 months of the day the activity starts to be undertaken in Australia.
• You held at least 30 per cent interest in your entrepreneurial entity when you entered into the agreement.
• You have a business plan for the entrepreneurial entity noting how your innovative idea will lead to the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia, or the development of an enterprise or business in Australia.