Business Innovation And Investment (Provisional) Visa Entrepreneur Stream (Subclass 188)

Business Innovation And Investment (Provisional) Visa Entrepreneur Stream

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This visa is for entrepreneurs with AUD$200,000+ funding for business activities in Australia.

This visa is for people who have a funding agreement from a third party for at least AUD$200,000 to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity (see below) that is proposed to lead to either the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia or the development of a business in Australia.

Expression of Interest and State Nomination

To apply for this visa, you must lodge an Expression of Interest (“EOI”) with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (“DIBP”) and an application for state nomination with a state / territory government. Your EOI will be viewed by state / territory governments who may then choose to nominate you for the visa. If you are nominated, the DIBP will then issue you an invitation to apply for the visa.

Eligibility Criteria

There are separate eligibility criteria at the DIBP and state level. We will outline the DIBP eligibility criteria and the criteria for the NSW State Government. We can advise you of the eligibility criteria for other states and territories should you be interested in migrating to a different state or territory.

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

To apply under this stream, you must:

  1. 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.
  2. Have competent English (IELTS score of 6.0 on all four components of the test) and be able to provide evidence of this at the time you are invited to apply for the visa.
  3. Be undertaking or proposing to undertake a “Complying Entrepreneur Activity” in Australia and have a genuine intention to continue this activity.

Complying Entrepreneur Activity

Both the DIBP and the New South Wales State Government mandate that an applicant under the Entrepreneur stream have a business plan for a complying entrepreneurial activity. A Complying Entrepreneur Activity is an activity relating to an innovative idea that will lead to the:

  1. Commercialisation of a product or service in Australia
  2. Development of an enterprise or business in Australia

The Complying Entrepreneur Activity must not be related to the following excluded categories of products, services, enterprises or businesses:

  1. Residential real estate
  2. Labour hire
  3. The purchase of an existing enterprise or a franchise in Australia.

Your activity will be considered a Complying Entrepreneur Activity if it meets the following requirements:

You have one or more legally enforceable agreements to receive funding for a total of at least AUD$200 000 from one of the following:

  1. Commonwealth Government agency
  2. State or Territory Government
  3. Publicly Funded Research Organisation
  4. Investor registered as an Australian Venture Capital Limited Partnership or Early State Venture Capital Limited Partnership
  5. Specified Higher Education Provider
  6. Under the above mentioned agreement, at least 10% of the funding must be payable to the entrepreneurial entity within 12 months of the day your activity starts to be undertaken in Australia.
  7. You held at least a 30% interest in your entrepreneurial entity when you entered into the agreement.
  8. 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.

NSW Government

The New South Wales State Government mandates that you must prove you have funds to settle in New South Wales. For this, you must be able to demonstrate that the net value of the business and personal assets is sufficient to support your settlement expenses in NSW.

Contact Us

If you wish to apply for this visa, please contact one of our experienced immigration lawyers.

These applications require a lot of information and documentation. We will ensure your application is structured in such a way that it is given the best prospects of success.

We offer all our prospective clients an initial meeting, during which we will thoroughly explain the law surrounding this visa to you and inform you of the process moving forward.

To organise an initial consultation with us, please contact one of our experienced immigration lawyers on (02) 9590 3987.

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If you would like to proceed with our firm or require further information, simply complete our enquiry form below or email or phone us.

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