The Investor Stream Subclass 188B is a temporary visa for businessmen wanting to make a contractually-based investment in the country of Australia. If you have managed or owned investments in Australia as a business professional, for 4 years on this visa, you can apply for the permanent residency through the Business Innovation & Investment Subclass 888 visa. 

Eligibility Criteria:

1. You should have previously managed investments or owned a business, and be willing to invest AUD 1.5 million in Australian Government bonds.
2. Your business or personal assets of last 2 financial years must amount to at least AUD 2.25 million
3. While lodging your application, you can either be in Australia or overseas, but if you are in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging A, B or C visa.
4. You should be under 55 years of age. The nominating state or territory can approve your application in some exceptional cases where you can prove that you will give the state an exceptional economic benefit.
5. You must pass the Business Innovation and Investment Points test with at least 65 points. Types of Eligible Investments:

• Ownership interests in a business
• Cash on deposit
• Stocks or bonds
•  Real estate
• Gold or bullio
• Loan to a business

Benefits of having this visa

1. There is no Age or English Requirements.
2. There is no requirement to meet the Business Innovation and Investment points test.
3. There is no upper age limit
4. You must spend only 160 days in Australia out of four years to get the Permanent visa
5. You can obtain a two years’ extension if above-mentioned requirement (160 days) is not met

Eligibility Criteria

The Investor Subclass C is the correct visa type for you if you are sincerely committed to

• residing in the state that nominated you
• proliferating your business activity in Australia after your provisional visa expires
• residing in Australia for at least 40 days every year
• making your partner stay in Australia for at least 180 days per year, for the duration of your provisional visa.
• Providing a net worth of at least AUD5 million; legally acquired, unhampered and available to support your investments in Australia.
• Proving that you have never been involved in any impermissible business activities.

Nomination

The Investor Subclass C is only available to applicants nominated by the government of an Australian State or Territory. To earn a nomination, you must lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) through the SkillSelect system.

You can either be in Australia or overseas when you lodge your application, but if you are in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging A, B or C visa.

Eligibility Criteria 

As an applicant, you must make an investment of at least AUD 15 million in a “premium investment” prior to grant of the visa, which includes:

• Australian securities exchange listed assets
• Australian government or semi-government bonds
• Corporate bonds or notes issued by an Australian exchange listed entity imp
• or investment grade rated Australian corporate bonds or notes rated by an AFS license debt rating agency
• Australian proprietary limited companies
• Real property in Australia; excluding the residential property
• Deferred regular payments issued by Australian registered life companies
• State or territory government approved philanthropic contribution

Nomination by AusTrade

This visa is only available to applicants who are nominated by AusTrade. In addition to that, applications can only be lodged online via the Skill Select system.

Eligibility Criteria

1. To be an eligible candidate for the Business Innovation Stream, there is an age bar of 55 years.
2. You must have competent English-speaking skills and be able to provide an evidence for that when you are invited to apply for the visa.

1. You should be able to show that you have an ownership interest of at least 30% in the proposed entrepreneurial activity you are willing to invest in. Most importantly, you should have a genuine intention to continue this activity.
2. You must complete the points test to be able to qualify for this stream; which is currently 65 points.

Acceptable Funding Source

The following entities qualify for being acceptable sources of funding:

1. An investor registered as an Australian venture capital limited partnership or an early stage venture capital limited partnership
2. Publicly funded research organization
3. Any Commonwealth government agency.
4.  Recognized higher education provider.

What business activities qualify?

If you are interested in applying for this visa, you will need to show how your proposed enterprise will real economic benefits for the country.

Your entrepreneur activity should be an innovative and unique idea that will bring a new service or product to the market or lead to economic development in Australia excluding any activities related to real estate or labor hire.

Nomination:

Before you qualify to apply for the 188E, you will need to be nominated by the government of an Australian State or Territory, which involves lodging an expression of interest (EOI) through the skillselect system.