Business Visa

Successful small-to-medium enterprise business owners who wish to undertake business activities in Australia

An Australian business visa is for business owners who want to:

• Start-up a new Australian business;
• Expand an existing overseas business into Australia;
• Purchase an existing Australian business; or
• Acquire an ownership interest and manage an existing Australian business.

There are two visa pathways for business owners who wish to obtain Australian permanent residency status. These are:

• Apply for a subclass 188 Business Innovation stream (‘188a’) visa and then transition to a subclass 888 Business Innovation stream (‘888a’) visa.
• Apply for a Global Talent visa. 

A 188a visa can last for up to 5 years. However, it is possible to apply for a 888a visa if you have held your 188a visa for at least 3 years and you meet all of the eligibility criteria for a 888a visa. If your 888a visa application is approved, you will become an Australian permanent resident.

The eligibility criteria for a 188a visa are:

• You are under the age of 55, or if you are over 55, an Australian State or Territory government has determined that your proposed Australian business activities will create an exceptional economic benefit.
• You have at least 65 points.
• There is a need for you to be in Australia to establish or conduct your proposed business activities.
• You have an overall successful business career.
• For at least 2 out of the last 4 fiscal year you had an ownership interest in a main business or businesses (maximum of two) that is a qualifying business that had an annual turnover of at least $750,000AUD.
• If your existing businesses provide professional, technical, or trade services, you must not spend more than 50% of your time performing these services (i.e you must spend at least 51% of your time managing your businesses).
• You, your spouse/de facto partner, or you and your spouse/de facto partner, own business and personal assets that have a net value of at least $1,250,000AUD.
• You and/or your spouse/de facto partner’s assets must have been lawfully acquired and are capable of being transferred into Australia within 2 years of you obtaining a 188a visa.
• You a genuine and realistic commitment to either establish a qualifying business in Australia or participate in an existing qualifying business in Australia.
• You have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain a substantial ownership interest in your qualifying Australian business.
• You have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain a direct and continuous involvement in the management of your qualifying Australian business in a manner that benefits the Australian economy.
• You have obtained a nomination from an Australian State or Territory government where you will be living and undertaking your proposed business activities in.

Please note that each Australian State and Territory government has their own eligibility criteria that will need to be met to obtain a nomination from them.

The eligibility criteria for a 888a visa are:

• You continue to be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government.
• You have a genuine and realistic commitment to maintain business activities in Australia.
• You, your spouse or de facto partner, and your Australian businesses have complied with any applicable Australian laws.
• You have resided in Australia for at least 1 year in the 3 years immediately before you lodged your 888a visa application.
• You have an ownership interest in at least one actively operating main business in Australia during the 2 years immediately before you lodged your 888a application.
• You continue to have an ownership interest in the actively operating main business.
• Your actively operating main business or businesses have an Australian Business Number.
• You have submitted all required Business Activity Statements to the Commissioner of Taxation during the 2 years immediately before you lodged your 888a visa application.

You meet at least 2 of the following requirements:

• The assets owned by you, your spouse or de facto partner, or you and your spouse or de facto partner together, in the main business or main businesses in Australia:
  • had a net value of at least $200,000AUD throughout the period of 12 months immediately before you lodged your 888a application; and
  • they continue to have a net value of at least $200,000AUD; and
  • they were lawfully acquired.
• In the period of 12 months immediately before you lodged your 888a application:
  • your main business in Australia, or main businesses in Australia, provided employment in Australia to 2 or more employees for a total number of hours that was at least the total number of hours that would have been worked by 2 full-time employees; and
  • each employee whose employment is used to work out that total number of hours was not the applicant or a member of the family unit of the applicant during that period; and was an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or the holder of a valid New Zealand passport during that period.
• You and/or your spouse or de facto partner’s Australian business and personal assets:
  • had a net value of at least AUD 600 000 in the period of 12 months ending immediately before the application was made; and
  • continue to have a net value of at least AUD 600 000; and
  • were lawfully acquired.
• Your main business in Australia, or main businesses in Australia, of the applicant, the applicant’s spouse or de facto partner, or the applicant and his or her spouse or de facto partner together, had an annual turnover of at least AUD 300 000 in the 12 months immediately before the application was made

If you do not meet the requirement above, it may still be possible to obtain a 888a visa if the Australian State or Territory government that has nominated you for your 888a visa has determined that there are exceptional circumstances.

There are usually three steps involved in a 188a visa application. These are:

1. Submit an Expression of Interest for a 188a visa. This information is sent to the Australian State or Territory government that you are seeking a nomination from. If the State or Territory government is interested in nominating you for your 188a visa application, they will invite you to apply for a nomination from them.
2. Submit a 188a visa nomination application. Please note that some Australian State and Territory governments require you to submit a Registration of Interest application before they will consider inviting you to apply for a nomination from them.
3. Submit a 188a visa application. If your nomination application is approved, you will receive an invitation from immigration to submit a 188a visa application. Please note that this invitation usually has an expiration date of 60 days.

The application process above also applies for a 888a visa application.

The government fees for a 188a visa application are:

• $9,450AUD for the main 188a visa applicant.
• $4,725AUD for any family members of the main 188a visa applicant who are over the age of 18.
• $2,365AUD for any family members of the main 188a visa applicant who are under the age of 18.

An additional government fee of $9,795AUD is payable if the main 188a visa applicant does not have ‘Functional’ English language abilities. An additional fee of $4,890AUD is also payable if a family member of the main 188a visa applicant who is over 18 does not have Functional English language abilities.

The government fees for a 888a visa application are:

• $3,310AUD for the main 888a visa applicant.
• $1,660AUD for any family members of the main 888a visa applicant who are over the age of 18.
• $825AUD for any family members of the main 888a visa applicant who are under the age of 18.

An additional fee of $4,890AUD is payable if the main 888a visa applicant, or a family member of the main 888a visa applicant who is over 18, does not have Functional English language abilities.

There may also be additional costs involved in a 188a and 888a visa application for things such as translation fees and professional fees for third party service providers.  

188a visa applications can take between 15-36+ months to be processed. 888a visa applications can take between 29-35+ months to be processed.  

Lucidian Law can assist with your business visa application by:

• Identifying business opportunities such as existing Australian businesses for sale that you can purchase or existing Australian businesses that you can partner with.
• Developing an innovative business concept for an Australian start-up company that matches your skills and experience.
• Developing business plans for your proposed Australian business activities.
• Helping you obtain capital for your proposed Australian business activities.
• Introducing you to potential industry partners and government departments that can assist with the development of your proposed Australian business.
• Introducing you to potential customers for your proposed Australian business.