Significant Investor stream

As the visa applicant, you must,

• hold, or for some people, must have held, a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream, and
• continue to hold your complying investment or complying significant investment, as required for your subclass 188 visa, during the period of that visa
• have a current nomination from a state or territory government agency or Austrade which has not been withdrawn.

• You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made on your application, but not in immigration clearance.
• Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, a primary applicant for the visa must be:
  • the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream, or
  • the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa granted on the basis that you were the spouse or de facto partner of a person who held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa in the Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream, and you have ceased to be the spouse or de facto partner of that person or that person has died.
  • See COVID-19 concessions section to check if the concessions apply to you.
• You must have a current nomination from a state or territory government agency or Austrade. When you applied for your provisional visa, you gave us an expression of interest. A state or territory saw your expression of interest and nominated you.
  • You do not need to provide a new expression of interest. But the state or territory needs to confirm that your nomination is still current.
• You must have held your complying investment or complying significant investment for the required period of time
  • When you were granted your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa, you invested AUD5 million in a ‘complying investment’ or a ‘complying significant investment’.
  • To be granted a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888) visa, you (or you and your spouse or de facto partner combined) must:
    • for the whole period during which you held your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa, have held a ‘complying investment’ (if your subclass 188 visa was granted on the basis of an application made before 1 July 2015) or a ‘complying significant investment’ (if your subclass 188 visa was granted on the basis of an application made on or after 1 July 2015),
    • tell us of any times you transferred funds from one investment to another.
• If any part of your investment is or was a direct investment in an Australian proprietary company, then:
  • if the period of the direct investment was less than 2 years, the company must have been a qualifying business for the whole period, or
  • if the period of the direct investment was 2 years or more, the company was a ‘qualifying business’ for at least 2 years, or
  • if the company has been unable to operate as a ‘qualifying business’, you must have made a genuine attempt to operate the business as a ‘qualifying business’.
• Investment rules for the Significant Investor stream changed on 1 July 2015. The rules in force when you applied for your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa will stay the same for your permanent visa.
• You must meet the residence requirement.
  • Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, to be granted a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888) visa, you (the primary applicant) must meet the following requirements relating to the period of time that you or your spouse or de facto partner have been in Australia while you held have been in Australia while you held your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa.
  • EITHER
    • you must have been in Australia for at least the number of days worked out by adding the results of paragraphs (a) and (b):
      • (a) multiplied by the number of complete years in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream, and
      • (b) multiplied by the number of years (if any) (treating a part of a year as one year) in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor Extension stream
  • OR
    • your spouse or de facto partner must have been in Australia on a subclass 188 visa, granted on the basis that you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor Extension stream, for at least the number of days worked out by adding the results of paragraphs (a) and (b):
      • (a) 180 multiplied by the number of complete years in the period in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream, and
      • (b)180 multiplied by the number of years (if any) (treating a part of a year as one year) in which you held a subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor Extension stream.
  • See COVID-19 concessions section to check if the concessions apply to you.
• You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.
• You must have a realistic commitment to continue your business or investment activity in Australia.
• You must have followed Australian laws when you made your investments.
  • If you operated a business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:
    • Commonwealth laws
    • the laws of the states or territories where your business operated
  • This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.
• You might have to pay an extra charge for any dependent applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English. If they can't show that they have at least functional English, they will need to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge when DOHA asks you to.
  • They will not need to pay a second instalment if they have already paid a second instalment of the visa application charge in relation to an application for a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa.
  • See General Notes section for the exact charge.
• All applicants aged 18 or over at the time of application must either have at least functional English or you will be asked to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge. See General Notes section for details.
• You and any family member included in this application must meet all the health and character requirements
• You or any family member must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who do not apply for the visa with you) owe the Australian Government money, you or they must have paid it back or arranged to pay it back.
• If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia AND confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws when you sign an Australian Values Statement

Note: If you have had a visa cancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.

• stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Australia's public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for 5 years
• if eligible apply for Australian citizenship

Arrangements are in place for provisional visa holders who may have been disadvantaged as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visa requirements:

From 19 September 2020 until 3 months after the end of the ‘COVID-19 concession period’, you can also apply for this visa if you:

• held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream which expired during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’; or
• were the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) and:
  • your visa expired during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’ and
  • you have ceased to be the spouse or de facto partner of a primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor Extension stream, or that person has died.

Your family members who wish to apply for the visa must combine their application with your (the primary applicant’s) application. The family members do not need to hold a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) visa.

Residence requirements

You must meet the Australian residence requirements. Time spent overseas will count as time being in Australia if during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’ you held a:

• Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Significant Investor stream or Significant Investor Extension stream; and
• your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Significant Investor stream was granted on or before 30 June 2019.

Time spent in Australia does not have to be continuous. We calculate the number of days cumulatively.

• This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely.
• You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add dependent children to your application at any time before a decision is made on your application.
• You might have to pay an extra charge for any applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English. This charge is the second instalment. You are required to pay it only when DOHA asks you to. The second instalment charge is AUD 4,890.

You only need to pay it for family members who did not pay the second instalment charge for their Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa.

• You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant this visa. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.

If you want to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:

• you will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident
• you might also want to consider Australian citizenship. If you become an Australian citizen, you don't require a visa to enter Australia. You will need to apply for an Australian passport and use it to leave and re-enter Australia. Consult with our expert registered migration agents to check your eligibility.