Australia has a population of 19 million. Most of them live along the east coast facing the Atlantic Ocean. In the early days, many people migrated to Australia from Europe. With the trend of more and more immigrants from Asian countries, Australia turned into a multi-cultural country. English is the native language of Australia, showing the intimate relationship to UK, US and other western countries. Australia enjoys a great reputation of being a friendly, quiet and comfortable country which has lead it to be an ideal place for travel and study.

Similar to most European regions, Australia experiences temperate weather for most of the year however its climate varies due to the size of the continent. The northern states have warmer weather while the southern states experience cooler winters. Australia is also one of the driest countries on earth with an average annual rainfall of less than 600 millimeters.

In Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia, average summer daytime and nighttime temperatures are 29 and 20 degrees respectively; during cooler weather in July, the average daytime and nighttime temperatures are 22 and 10 degrees respectively. In Victoria, New South Wales, Southern Australia, and Tasmania, the average summer daytime and nighttime temperatures are 26 and 16 degrees respectively; during cooler weather in July, the average daytime and nighttime temperatures are 15 and 7 degrees respectively. 。

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Business Innovation and Investment visa 188A (Queensland)

The Australian Government launched the Business Innovation and Investment Program since 1 July 2012. The number of visa subclasses has reduced from 13 to 3, which includes:

1. Business Talent (Permanent) (subclass 132)
2. Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)(subclass 188)
3. Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888)

To attract more people to invest, and set up business and live in Queensland, the government has launched the Business Innovation and Investment visa (188A) which reduces the amount of investment significantly in 16 July 2016; this came into effect from 25 July 2016.

The Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) is a 4-year visa set up for people who have owned and managed a business. Applicants who have innovative and business management abilities can set up, develop and manage a new or existing business in Australia. After living in Australia for at least one of the two consecutive years, applicants can apply permanent residency.

Qualifications :

1. The principal applicant must be under the age of 55 (if applicants are over 55 years old , it is up to the state to decide whether they can bring special economic interests in order to waive this condition).
2. The principal applicant must score at least 65 points in the point test.
3. The principal applicant must have successful experiences in operating and managing businesses.
4. Annual turnover in one of the applicant’s business during a period of at least two years of the preceding four fiscal years of at least AUD500,000.
5. Requirement of Applicant and applicant’s spouse ownership interest:

at least 51% with turnover of less than $400,000 AUD per annum,

or 30% of a business with turnover of more than $400,000 AUD per annum,

or 10% of a publicly-listed company.

6. The principal applicant have not engaged in a business where provision of professional, technical or trade services took up more than 50% of time. (Main duty should be business management)
7. Net business and personal assets of the principal applicant, or applicant’s partner, or the principal applicant and applicant’s partner combined in each of the preceding two years of at least AUD800,000 and is available for transferring to Australia within two years of the grant of a State/Territory Sponsored Business Innovation & Investment (Provisional) visa.
8. Applicant must invest at least AUD200,000 in business.
9. Applicant must resident in Queensland for at least 2 years.
10. After the principal applicant is granted the visa, dependent children under the age of 25 can apply for the same visa.

Permanent visa 888

The Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) is the second stage of the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188). Applicants can apply for it after fulfilling investment requirements and residing for 2 years in Australia. Applicants do not need to submit an Expression of Interest or be invited to apply for this visa but they need to be nominated by a state or territory government agency. Besides, applicants should have a satisfactory compliance with applicable Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory laws.

Granting visa 188 after July 2016

Applying visa 888 – Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa

Qualifications :

1. Applicants are nominated by a state or territory or the Australian government.
2. Applicants must hold a provisional Business innovation and investment visa(subclass 188) and have met the requirements of that visa in the stream in which applicant first applied.
3. Applicant must have owned and been operating an Australia business for the last 2 years prior to application.
4. Applicants have been in Australia for at least 12 months of the 2 years prior to application.
5. Applicants must have participated in the day-to-day management of the business for the last 2 years prior to application.
6. The business has had a turnover of at least AUD 300,000 for the last one year prior to application.
7. Applicants must meet the ownership interest requirement for the last one year prior to application.

at least 51% with turnover of less than $400,000 AUD per annum,

or 30% of a business with turnover of more than $400,000 AUD per annum,

or 10% of a publicly-listed company.

8. Applicants must meet 2 of the following 3 criteria for the 12 months prior to application:

Net assets in the business of at least AUD 200,000.

Net personal assets of at least AUD 600,000.

2 Full Time Equivalent employees working in the business - these employees must not be relatives, and must be Australian permanent residents, citizens or NZ passport holders

9. Applicants and their spouses must have a satisfactory compliance with applicable Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory laws.
10. The principal applicant and applicant’s spouse must meet certain health requirements and character requirements.

Point test (the pass mark is 65)

Financial assets		Age
At least AUD800,000 in the preceding two year	5	18-24	20
At least AUD1,300,000 in the preceding two year	15	25-32	30
At least AUD1,800,000 in the preceding two year	25	33-39	25
At least AUD2,500,000 in the preceding two year	35	40-44	20
		45-54	15
Business experience  (Business Innovation stream only)
Held one or more businesses for not less than four years within the preceding five years	10	Investor experience (Investor stream only)
Held one or more businesses for not less than seven years within the preceding eight years	15	Eligible investment of at least AUD100, 000 held for at least four years before the time of invitation to apply for the visa	10
		Eligible investment of at least AUD100, 000 held for at least seven years before the time of invitation to apply for the visa	15
Annual business turnover     (the preceding four fiscal years)
exceeding AUD500,000 for at least two years		English language ability
exceeding AUD1,000,000 for at least two years	15	Achieved a score of at least 5 in each of the four test components in IELTS	5
exceeding AUD1,500,000 for at least two years	25	Achieved a score of at least 7 in each of the four test components in IELTS	10
exceeding AUD2,000,000 for at least two years	35
		Others
Qualifications		Evidence of registered patents or registered designs	15
Australian trade certificate, diploma or bachelor degree by an Australian education institute	5	Evidence of registered trademarks	10
a bachelor qualification recognized by an education institution of a recognized standard	5	Evidence of formal joint venture agreements	5
Bachelor degree in business, science or technology by an Australian institution; or a bachelor qualification by an education institution of a recognized standard	10	One or more of applicant’s nominated main businesses must have derived at least 50 per cent of annual turnover from export trade for at least two of the preceding four fiscal years.	15
		Receipt of grants or venture capital funding for an innovative business idea	10
Applicant’s nominated main business must have been registered for no more than five years. The average annualized growth in turnover of the business must have been greater than 20 per cent each year for a continuous period of three fiscal years. The business must have had 10 or more full-time employees for at least one fiscal year in the three-year period.	10	Received a grant of at least AUD10 000 under specified conditions from a government body in your home country or received venture capital funding of at least AUD100 000 within the preceding four years.	10

Applicant’s age based on the day being invited to apply.

The IELTS must be demonstrated within the three years before applicants are invited to apply for this visa.

Net business and personal assets were held by applicant and applicant’s partner, excluding children.

Registered patents or registered designs must have been used in the day-to-day activities of applicant’s nominated main business.

For business experience score, the ownership share must be at least 51% with a turnover of less than $400,000 AUD per annum, or 30% of a business with turnover of more than $400,000 AUD per annum.

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Documents Required

(A) Personal Information

1. Identity card
2. Passport (information page and all the dates of visas, entries and departures from Australia)
3. Birth certificate
4. Marriage certificate
5. No criminal record (Applicants above the age of sixteen)
6. Applicant’s address for the past decade
7. Names of parents and siblings, their date of birth, marital status and the country they are living in
8. The jobs and educational background of applicant and applicant’s spouse
9. Four passport photos of each applicant

(B) Personal Property

1. Bank statement
2. Stocks and bonds: share or bond registers, share/fixed interest securities, debentures or transfer certificates
3. Real estate: valuation certificates by an accredited property valuer

(C) Company Information

1. Certificate of business registration
2. Certification of incorporation
3. Memorandum and articles of association
4. Annual return for last one year
5. A full set of financial statements for past two years
6. Photos of business premises and business activities (about ten photos)
7. Company organizational chart
8. Promotion materials

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Procedures