Business Innovation And Investment (Provisional) Visa Premium Investor Stream (Subclass 188)

To apply for this visa, you must lodge an Expression of Interest (“EOI”) with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (“the DIBP”). You must then be nominated by Austrade on behalf of the federal Australian Government.

Austrade is the sole nominator for the Premium Investor Stream, and nominates on an invitation-only model, with State and Territory governments able to make referrals to Austrade. If you are nominated by AUSTRADE, the DIBP will then issue an invitation for you to apply for the visa.

The requirements under this stream are as follows:

1. You, your partner (spouse or de facto), or you and your partner combined must have net assets of at least AUD$15 million that are legally acquired, unencumbered, and available to be used to make complying investments (see below) in Australia.
2. You must make a complying investment of at least AUD$15 million in any of the following:
   • 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
3. You and your partner must not have been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities.
4. You must have a genuine and realistic commitment to continue your business and investment activity in Australia after the conclusion of your provisional visa.
5. 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.​​​

Furthermore, Austrade lists the following restrictions:

1. Investors will be required to reinvest funds within 30 days of withdrawing them from a complying investment or cancelling the investment in order for the investment to continue to be complying.
2. Direct investment into residential real estate is excluded and indirect exposure through investment vehicles is restricted to less than 10% of a vehicle’s net assets.
3. “Loan back” arrangements where the investment is used as collateral by applicants are excluded.

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.