Requirements

The Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) is the second stage of the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188). You can apply for it after you have fulfilled the requirements of your provisional visa.

You do not need to submit a new Expression of Interest or be invited to apply for this visa. You ne​​ed to be nominated by a state or territory government agency or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government if you are seeking to satisfy the primary criteria.

If you are the holder of a provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188) and the government entity which nominated you for that visa has not withdrawn the nomination, you have a current nomination by that government entity.

If you are the holder of a Special Category visa (subclass 444), or require nomination from a different nominator than your provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188) you are required to obtain nomination from a state or territory or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government before you lodge an application for this visa.

The Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) allows you to manage your business and investments in Australia.

This is a permanent residence visa. It lets you and any family members who have also been granted this visa:

• stay in Australia indefinitely
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
• apply for Australian citizenship (if you are eligible)
• sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence
• travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted (after that time, you will need a resident return visa or another visa to return to Australia).

You might be able to apply for this visa if:

you are the primary visa holder of a provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188) and have met all the requirements of your provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa in the stream in which you first applied; or

• ​you are the secondary visa holder who is the spouse or de facto partner of a provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188) in the Investor or Business Innovation stream and have met all the primary criteria of provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa in the stream in which you first applied; or
• you hold a Special Category visa (subclass 444) or a Business (Long stay) visa (subclass 457IE) and have met the requirements of the business innovation stream; and
• you and your partner have not been involved in any unacceptable business or investment activities.

In addition:

• you and your partner have a satisfactory record of complying with Commonwealth laws, and of each State or Territory in which you operate a business and employ employees in the business, relating to your business,
• you have been nominated by an Australian state or territory or by Austrde on behalf of the Australian government,
• you and all your family members meet health and character requirements – you do not need to prove this again if you have already done this for the provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188),
• have a realistic commitment to maintain business or investment activities in Australia.

Other requirements depend on the stream in which you held your provisional Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 188).

Health requirements

You must meet certain health requirements. However, most applicants for this visa will not be required to complete additional health examinations. Do not arrange a health examination until we ask you to.

Character requirements

You must meet certain character requirements. You must be prepared to provide a police certificate from each country you have lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after you turned 16 years of age. Do not arrange for police certificates until we ask you to.

This applies to you and all the dependent family members listed in your application, whether they are migrating or not. ​​

Debts to the Australian Government

You must have no outstanding debts to the Australian Government or have arranged to repay any outstanding debts to the Australian Government before this visa can be granted.

Biometrics

You might be asked to provide biometrics (a scientific form of identification) as part of the application. Countries and visa subclasses included in the biometrics program has more information.

If you are applying for the Business Innovation stream, you must have been in Australia and held:

• a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream or the Business Innovation Extension stream
• a Special Category visa (subclass 444)
• a Business (Long Stay) visa (subclass 457IE)

for at least one year in the two years immediately before you apply.

In addition, you must be able to show ongoing busine​ss involvement, meet certain financial requirements, and have a history of employing Australian workers.

Ongoing business involvement

You must be able to show that you (or you and your partner together) have:

• had an ownership interest (and continue to have an ownership interest) and a direct and continuous management role in an actively operating main business (or main businesses) in Australia for the two years immediately before you apply.
• had an annual turnover of at least AUD300 000 from the main business (or businesses) in the 12 months before you apply. (A nominating state or territory might agree to waive the requirement to show an annual turnover of AUD300 000 if you live and operate business in a specified regional area of Australia)
• owned at least one of the following percentages of the main business (or main businesses) in Australia in the year immediately before you apply:
  • 51 per cent of a business with a turnover of less than AUD400 000 per year
  • 30 per cent of a business with a turnover of AUD400 000 or more per year
  • 10 per cent of a publicly listed company
• obtained an Australian Business Number for each of your main businesses
• submitted Business Activity Statements to the Australian Taxation Office for the two years immediately before you apply
• not acquired the ownership in your main business (or two main businesses) from a person who was an applicant for, or a holder of, a permanent Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 888) or a permanent business skills visa (in subclasses 890, 891, 892 or 893), unless you and that person had a joint interest in the main business for at least one year before you lodge your application for this visa.

You (or your partner, or you and your partner together) must also demonstrate that you have achieved at least two of the following requirements:

• a net value of business assets of at least AUD200 000 in your nominated main business (or two main businesses) in Australia throughout the year immediately before you apply
• a net value of personal and business assets of at least AUD600 000 in Australia throughout the year immediately before you apply
• employed at least the equivalent of two full-time employees in your main business (or main businesses), throughout the year immediately before you apply who are:
  • Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or holders of valid New Zealand passports
  • not your family members.

If you are applying for this visa in the Investor stream, you must have been in Australia and held your provisional visa in the Investor stream for at least two of the four years immediately before you apply.

In addition, you (or you and your partner combined) must have held a designated investment with an Australian state or territory for at least four years.

If you are applying for a permanent visa (subclass 888) in the Significant Investor stream, you must have held at the time of application:

• a provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream or in the Significant Investor Extension stream.

You must have been in Australia as the holder of a provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor extension stream for at least 40 days per year (calculated cumulatively) for the period of time you have held your provisional visa(s), or your spouse to live for at least 180 days per year (calculated cumulatively) on the basis of the period of time the primary applicant has held their provisional visa(s).

In addition, you (or you and your partner combined) must have:

• held complying investments continuously for at least 4 years while holding your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188).
• operated a qualifying business under the private Australian company in which you have made a direct complying investment if applicable.

Note that the rules in force at the time you applied for you original subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream will apply to you when your application for a subclass 888 visa is assessed.

If you applied for your provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream prior to 1 July 2015, you are eligible to apply for a subclass 888 visa after holding your provisional visa for 3 years and 11 months. If you applied for your provisional visa after 1 July 2015, you are required to hold your provisional visa for at least 4 years prior to applying for a subclass 888 visa.

The subclass 888 visa has two Eligibility Streams:

• The Business Innovation Stream, and
• The Investor Stream.