Significant Investor Visa (SIV) 188C

For investors who:

• Are willing to make a complying significant investment of at least AUD 5 million in an Australian state or territory for up to 5 years.
• Receive nomination from an Australian State or Territory government agency or Austrade and reside in the state that nominated you
• Have a genuine and realistic commitment to continue business and investment activity in Australia

• The Applicant can include their spouse and dependent children to the application.
• Dependent children are defined as the Applicant’s child, or their partner’s child, who is not engaged, married or in a de facto relationship and is:
  • aged under 18 years, or
  • aged 18 to 23 years and dependent on the Applicant or the Applicant’s partner, or
  • aged 23 years or older and dependent on the Applicant or the Applicant’s partner due to a partial or total physical or mental disability.

• The visa is valid for up to five years from the date it is granted.

Applications must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) and be nominated by a State, Territory Government, or Austrade. After submission of EOI and nomination from a State or Territory government, the Applicant will have 60 days to lodge the visa application through and then if the application is accepted the Applicant will be advised when to make the complying investment after which the visa will be issued

The Business Innovation and Investment Visa is a 2-stage process to obtain residency. The visa holder will first need to obtain a provisional visa (subclass 188) (i.e. a temporary residence visa) up to 5 years. After complying with the necessary business and/or investment requirements, the visa holder may apply for a permanent residence visa (subclass 888).

• The Applicant and his accompanying family members must be in good health.
• The Applicant and family need to provide police certificates from each country they have lived in for 12 months or more over the past 10 years after they turned 16 years of age. All family members are required to provide this even if they are not migrating.

• No English requirement –The Applicant and family members can pay an additional fee to meet this requirement.
• No point test requirement.
• No age limit.

To be a Complying Significant Investment, the following proportions are required:

• At least AUD 1 million in venture capital and growth private equity funds which invest in start-ups and small private companies;
• At least AUD 1.5 million in approved managed funds investing in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange;
• A ‘balancing investment’ of at least AUD 2.5 million in managed funds that may invest in a range of assets, including ASX-listed companies, Australian corporate bonds or notes, annuities, and commercial real estate.

NB: Direct investment in residential real estate continues to be prohibited and indirect investment in residential property through managed funds is now strictly limited. Investments must not be used as security or collateral for a loan.

The value of the complying significant investment must be at least AUD 5 million at the time the authority decide whether or not to grant the visa. Once granted, it does not matter if the complying investment falls below AUD 5 million.

If the Applicant withdraws his complying significant investment while holding the visa, he will need to reinvest it into another complying significant investment within 30 calendar days. If not, it will be considered as a breach of visa condition and the visa may be cancelled.

Yes. The applicant must have been living in Australia for at least 40 days per year for the 4-year period or have their spouse/de facto partner live in Australia for at least 180 days/year for the duration of the visa. The days do not need to be consecutive.

Yes. The applicant’s spouse or de facto partner can meet the residency requirement for the family. The spouse would need to reside in Australia for at least 180 days per year. If this is the case, the main applicant would not need to meet the minimum residency requirement.

The Applicant can apply for the SIV extension and extend the provisional visa for a further 2 years to allow them to meet the residency requirement.

Approximately 12-24 months

Yes, there is no limitation with regards to the right to undertake work or study for the Applicant and his family.

The general residence requirement is based on the amount of time the applicant has lived in Australia. He must meet all of the following:

• has lived in Australia on a valid Australian visa for four years immediately before applying;
• must have been a permanent resident for the 12 months immediately before making an application and not have been absent from Australia for more than one year in total, during the four-year period, including no more than 90 days in the 12 months before applying.