Business Owner Visa (Subclass 890)

This visa includes the following criteria:

1. You must have been in Australia as the holder of an eligible visa for a total of at least 1 year in the 2 years immediately before the application is made. The 1-year period does not have to be continuous.
2. You and your family members applying with you must meet the health requirement. In some circumstances, you will not have to do medicals again. You should not do medicals until you've been asked to do so.
3. You and any members of your family who apply for the visa with you must meet certain character requirements. Members of your family unit not accompanying you to Australia must also meet the requirement.
4. Sign the Australian values statement if you are 18 years of age or older, confirming your commitment to respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws.
5. You and your family must have paid back any money owed to the Australian Government or have a formal arrangement in place to repay it.
6. Your immigration history is considered, and you may be ineligible if you had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused.

To meet the criteria for this visa, it is essential that you currently hold an eligible visa. An eligible visa falls under the following subclasses:

1. Business Owner (Provisional) visa (subclass 160)
2. Senior Executive (Provisional) visa (subclass 161)
3. Investor (Provisional) visa (subclass 162)
4. State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner (Provisional) visa (subclass 163)
5. State/Territory Sponsored Senior Executive (Provisional) visa (subclass 164)
6. State/Territory Sponsored Investor (Provisional) visa (subclass 165)

It's crucial that your current visa must have been granted based on you, your partner, or your former partner meeting the primary criteria for the grant of that visa.

To be eligible for this visa, you must meet specific criteria related to owning and managing a business in Australia. Here's what you need to ensure:

Ownership Requirement

For the 2 years immediately before you apply, you must have had, and continue to have, an ownership interest in one or more actively operating main businesses in Australia.

1. For each business you nominate, provide evidence of:
   1. Ownership interest
   2. Value of your ownership interest
2. During the two years before your application, the value of your ownership interest or the combined value with your partner must have been at least:
   1. 51% for a business with a turnover of less than AUD400,000 per year
   2. 30% for a business with a turnover of AUD400,000 or more per year
   3. 10% for a publicly listed company
3. You must have maintained a direct and continuous management role in each business on a day-to-day basis, even during periods outside Australia.
4. Ensure each main business meets the criteria to be assessed as a qualifying business.
5. Obtain an ABN for each main business (up to a maximum of two ABNs).
6. Provide evidence of Business Activity Statements issued by the Australian Taxation Office through the portal process.

If you spent more than a total of 6 weeks outside Australia during the two years, explain how you managed the business in your absence.

Business Assets

At the time you apply and throughout the 12 months immediately before you apply, you must show that you and/or your partner had net business assets in the main businesses of at least AUD100,000 and those assets were lawfully acquired

Business Turnover

For the 12 months immediately before you apply, you must evidence annual turnover in your main business (or 2 main businesses together) of at least AUD300,000 

Employees

For the 12 months immediately before you apply you must provide evidence that the nominated main businesses employed 2 full-time employees or the equivalent of 2 full-time employees. Employees must be Australian citizens, permanent residents or New Zealand passport holders and cannot include yourself or members of your family unit.

Business and personal assets

At the time you apply and throughout the 12 months immediately before you apply, you must show that the net value of your and/or your partner’s net business and personal assets in Australia was at least AUD250,000.

Business Practices

You must not have engaged in business activities that are generally unacceptable in Australia.

When applying for this visa, you have the option to include members of your family unit. You have the option to include them when you submit your visa application or add them afterwards, but it must be done before a decision is made.

Family members who apply for the visa must meet specific health and character requirements. Additionally, those family members who do not plan to come to Australia may still be subject to health and character requirements.

Note: Family members who already hold an eligible visa granted based on being part of your family unit may still be included, even if they no longer strictly meet the current definition. For example, a child who has turned 23 years of age since their eligible visa was granted can still be considered under this provision.

For those considering our services, we provide an initial meeting. In this session, we will simplify the legal aspects of the visa, explain the process ahead, and address any questions you may have.

To set up an initial discussion with us, please reach out to one of our experienced immigration lawyers at (02) 9590 3987.