All you need to know about Business visa

Emergency relief support for people on temporary visas

10 May 2020

Hong Kong

31 July 2020

Published by babak at 3 June 2020

Some of the things we do when handling Business Migration to Australia:

Develop a strategy – we make sure you will meet the requirements of the visa and plan your road map to PR and ultimately citizenship
Working with your accountants to ensure financial statements are in line with the Australian standard and suitable for immigration purposes
Points calculation to ensure you only claim points that you are able to evidence
Evaluate the eligibility for state sponsorship
Complete analysis of business visa eligibility
Lodgement of expressions of interest in Skillselect on your behalf
Guide you through the required documents
Arranging for police checks and health checks
Lodgement of your application on time
Liaise with the Department of Home Affairs during the processing

Which Business Visa is right for you?

There are different business and investor visa types, with each having certain criteria that needs to be met in order to be eligible for the visa. One common requirement among all the Business visa is that the applicant needs to be nominated by a state or territory and invited to apply. Below is the snap shot of the most popular business visas and the eligibility criteria:

132 Visa - Significant Business History

The applicant must be under 55 years old unless waiver is available for an exceptional economic benefit to the state
Overall successful career
Business turnover of over $3m in 2 of the last 4 years
Have net business assets ownership of at least $400k in 2 of the 4 years or 10% ownership in a business if it is a publicly listed company
Have total asset of $1.5m
Have genuine desire to own and maintain management role in a business in Australia
Nomination by state and invited to apply

This is a Permanent visa and is subject to monitoring. For more detailed information about 132 visa here: Link 1

188 visa - Business Innovation & Investment- Point tested

The applicant must be under 55 years old unless waiver is available for an exceptional economic benefit to the state
Overall successful career
Percentage ownership of business with over $500k turnover in the 2 out of the last 4 years
Have net personal and business assets of over $800k
Achieve 65 points in the point test
Nomination by state and invited to apply

This is a 4 years Provisional Visa leading to 888 Permanent Visa. For more detailed information about 188 visa- Business Innovation here: Link 2

188 visa- Investor stream

The applicant must be under 55 years old unless waiver is available for exceptional economic benefit to the state
Overall successful career
Investment in State bonds of $1.5m
Management of a business in 1 of the last 5 years with $1.5m equity value or 10%shareholding
Achieve 65 points in the point test
Nomination by state and invited to apply

This is a 4 years Provisional Visa leading to 888 Permanent Visa.

Significant Investor

No age restrictions
Must invest $5m in complying investment
Genuine intention to reside in the state

For more detailed information about 188 visa- Business Investment here: Link 3

Which business visa?

The business and investment migration programmes are aimed for individuals who are seeking to establish and manage or invest in a business, or to innovate a product or service for commercialisation in Australia.

Both temporary and permanent visa options are available under this programme, with both requiring you to be nominated by a State or Territory Government and receive an invitation to apply for the visa before proceeding with your application. This is facilitated though the Expression of Interest (EOI) process, which you must submit to the Department as a first step, together with an application for nomination to the relevant State or Territory Government authority whom you are seeking to nominate you.

Business innovation and Investment (Provisional) subclass 188 visa - A temporary residence visa which allows you to reside in Australia for a period of up to 4 years and 3 months, with options to extend the visa term, depending on the visa stream for which you apply. This visa provides a pathway to permanent residence via the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) subclass 888 visas once you have held the temporary visa for between 1-4 years, provided specified requirements are met.

For the point tested visas, you need to pass the points test in order to qualify. Under this test, you will be allocated a score based on such factors as your age, qualifications, the financial value of your assets (combined with your partner) and business turnover.

Alternatively, you may be eligible to apply for a Business Talent (Permanent) subclass 132 visa, a permanent residence visa allowing you to remain indefinitely in Australia. It comprises of 2 visa streams and requires you to demonstrate that you have the minimum required assets and turnover, or that you have secured a specified minimum amount of venture capital funding, to operate a new or existing business in Australia.

You can also apply to have eligible family members accompany you to Australia as visa dependents. They will need to meet visa grant requirements including health and character criteria.

Both visa subclasses also allow you and dependent visa holders to enter and depart Australia without restriction over the visa period.

Business Talent subclass 132 visa

This visa is designed for applicants who seek to establish a new business or develop an existing business in Australia. There is no points test for this visa. To lodge a valid application for a subclass 132 visa, the key requirements to satisfy are:

You must have received an invitation to apply for the subclass 132 visa;
You must be nominated by a State or Territory government agency; If the application is lodged from onshore, you must hold either a substantive visa, or a Bridging visa A, B or C visa. If your current visa is subject to ‘No Further Stay’, you will be unable to apply for the subclass 188 visa in Australia (exceptions may apply).

The requirements for subclass 132 visa grant will vary, depending on the stream for which you apply, as set out below.

Significant Business History stream:

The following visa criteria apply to the Significant Business History stream:

Total net assets of at least $400,000 as the ownership interest in one or more qualifying businesses for least 2 of the last 4 financial years immediately before you are invited to apply for the visa. In cases where the qualifying business is a publicly listed company, you must own at least 10% of the total issued capital;
Net business and personal assets with a minimum value of $1,500,000 and which can be transferred to Australia within two years of visa grant;
Total annual turnover of at least $3,000,000 in at least one of your main businesses in 2 of the 4 financial years immediately before you are invited to apply for the visa;
The following minimum ownership interest:
51% of a business with turnover of less than $400,000 per year
30% of a business with turnover of more than $400,000 per year
10% of a publicly listed company
An overall successful business career with no involvement in unacceptable business activities;
Meet health and character requirements

Investor stream (Provisional) subclass 188 visa:

The following visa criteria apply to the Investor stream:

You must have received an invitation to apply for the subclass 188 visa
Be aged under 55 years at the time the invitation is received (unless states waive under exceptional benefit)
Achieve a score of at least 65 in the points test;
Have high level management skills and overall success record of eligible investment or qualifying business activity
Have at least 3 years’ experience of direct involvement in relation to the eligible investment or qualifying business activity;
Have a genuine commitment to continuing your business and investment activity in Australia after the original investment has matured
Have a genuine intention to reside in the State in which you have made a designated investment for at least 2 years
For at least one of the 5 financial years before you are invited to apply for the visa, have directly managed one of the following:
a qualifying business of which you owned at least 10%
eligible investments of which you owned at least $1,500,000
During the 2 financial years’ immediately before you are invited to apply for the visa, you must have business, investment and personal assets valued at least $2,250,000 (and which can be legally transferred to Australia within 2 years of the visa being granted)
Make a designated investment of at least $1,500,000 in a State or Territory Government security (using funds accumulated from qualifying businesses or eligible investments) and be prepared to hold that investment for at least 4 years from the date of issue in your nominating state or territory;
Have not been involved in unacceptable activities;
Satisfy health and character requirements

Significant Investor stream:

The following visa criteria apply to the Significant Investor stream:

You must have received an invitation to apply for the subclass 188 visa;
Have a genuine commitment to reside in the State that nominates you
continue your business and investment activity in Australia once the term of your temporary subclass 188 visa completes
live in Australia for at least 40 days per year (cumulatively) whilst you hold the subclass 188 visa;
The minimum value of your net assets (combined with your partner) is at least $5,000,000 and can be used to make the complying investment in Australia;
Neither you nor your partner have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities;
You must make a complying significant investment of at least $5,000,000 over four years, as follows:
at least $500,000 in venture capital and growth private equity funds which invest in start-ups and small private companies
at least $1,500,000 in approved managed funds investing in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX);
A balancing investment of at least $3,000,000 in managed funds that may invest in a range of assets, including ASX-listed companies, Australian corporate bonds or notes, annuities and commercial real estate;
Satisfy health and character requirements

Premium Investor stream:

The following visa criteria apply to the Premium Investor stream:

You must have received an invitation to apply for the subclass 188 visa;
Approved nomination by Austrade on behalf of the Australian Government;
Invest at least $15,000,000 in a specified complying investment, including Australian securities exchange listed assets, real property in Australia (excluding residential property) or deferred annuities issued by Australian registered life companies;
Have a genuine commitment to continue your business and investment activity in Australia once your temporary visa ends;
The minimum value of your net assets (combined with your partner) is at least $15,000,000 and can be used to make the complying investment in Australia;
Neither you nor your partner have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities; and
Meet health and character requirements.

Business Innovation (Provisional) subclass 188 visa:

The following visa criteria apply to the Business Innovation stream:

You must have received an invitation to apply for the subclass 188 visa;
You must be aged under 55 years at the time the invitation (some states waive
the age criterion if your proposed business or investment activity is of exceptional economic benefit to that State);
Achieve a score of at least 65 in the points test;
In 2 out of the last 4 financial years before you are invited to apply for the visa, you must have had an ownership interest in an established business with at least $500,000 in turnover in each of those years;
Have at least the following ownership interest in the business:
51% if turnover is less than $400,000 per year
30% if turnover is $400,000 or more per year
10% 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
Demonstrate that there is a need for you to reside in Australia to establish or operate your proposed business activity;
If your business provides professional, technical or trade services, you must have spent no more than 50% of your time providing those services (as opposed to general management of the business);
At the time of invitation, you and your partner must have combined total net business and personal assets of at least $800,000, which were lawfully acquired and available for legal transfer to Australia within two years of visa grant;
Your nominating state must be satisfied that the total net business and personal assets owned by you and your partner, apart from the assets referred to in the above point, are sufficient to allow you to settle in Australia;
You and your partner must not have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities; and
Health and character requirements also apply.

Your proposed business activity must be a qualifying business, which means that it operates with the purpose of making a profit through the provision of goods and services.

You must either establish a new qualifying business or participate in an existing one in Australia. This commitment extends to maintaining a substantial ownership interest in, and engaging in, daily management of the business.

At Key Migration and Visa Services we provide a full-service case management for business visa applicants.