When applying under the Business Innovation Stream

If you are applying in the Business Innovation stream, you must fulfill the following additional requirements:

  1. You must have regularly resided in Australia and, for at least one of the two years immediately preceding the application, held a:
    1. Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream or the Business Innovation Extension stream, or
    2. A Special Category visa (subclass 444), or
    3. A Business (Long Stay) visa (subclass 457IE)
  2. You must be able to show that you and your partner, jointly or singly,:
    1. Had (for the two years proceeding the application) and continue to have ownership interests and direct and ongoing roles in the management of an actively running main business or businesses in Australia.
    2. Have maintained an annual turnover of at least AUD300,000 from the main business (or businesses) in the 12 months immediately preceding the application. This requirement may be waived by the nominating State/Territory if you commit to live and operate your business in a specific region of the country.
    3. In the year immediately preceding the application, you must have owned at least
      • 51% of main business if annual turnover is less than AUD 400,000
      • 30% of main business if annual turnover is equal to or more than AUD 400,000
      • 10% of main business if it is a public listed company
    4. You must have obtained an Australian Business Number for each of your main businesses.
    5. You must have submitted Business Activity Statements to the Australian Taxation Office for two years immediately preceding your application.
    6. You must have not acquired ownership in your main business or businesses from an applicant or holder of
      1. A permanent Business Innovation and Investment visa (subclass 888), or
      2. A permanent Business Skills Visa (in subclasses 890, 891, 892 or 893).
    7. The above restriction does not apply if you had a joint interest in the main business or business with that other person for a period of at least one year immediately preceding your visa application.

  3. You and your partner, jointly or singly, must show proof of achievement of least two of the following three requirements:

    1. Your nominated main business in Australia had business assets with a net value of more than AUD 200,000 throughout the year immediately preceding the application.
    2. Your personal and business assets in Australia had a net value of more than AUD 600,000 throughout the year immediately preceding the application.
    3. Throughout the year immediately preceding the application, you employed the equivalent of at least two full-time employees in your main business/businesses with such employees being:
      1. Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or holders of valid New Zealand passports, and
      2. Not your family members.

When applying under the Investor Stream

If you are applying in the Investor stream, you must fulfill the following additional requirements.

  1. You must have held your provisional visa and resided in Australia for at least two out of the four years immediately preceding the application.
  2. You and your partner, jointly or singly, must have held the designated investment within a State/Territory in Australia for at least four years.

When applying under the Significant Investor Stream

If you are applying in the Significant Investor stream, you must fulfill the following additional requirements.

  1. You must have held a provisional visa in the Significant Investor Stream or Significant Investor Extension Stream at the time of applying for the Permanent Visa.
  2. You must have been in Australia as a holder of the provisional visa for:
    1. 160 days over the past four years in the Significant Investor stream, or
    2. 240 days over the past six years in the Significant Investor Extension stream with one extension, or
    3. 320 days over the past eight years in the Significant Investor Extension stream with two extensions.
  3. You and your partner, jointly or singly, must have
    1. Held the complying investments continuously for more than four years if holding the Provisional Visa, or
    2. Operated the qualifying business under the private Australian company into which the direct complying investment was made, if applicable.