About Significant Investor Stream
The Significant Investor visa is a 4-year visa for people willing to make an AUD 5 million investment in Australia. It is one of the streams within the Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment visa.
This is a 4 year temporary visa. Once you have maintained an investment in Australia for 4 years, you can apply for permanent residence through the Business Innovation & Investment (Residence) Subclass 888 visa.
You will need to spend at least 40 days per year in Australia on your Significant Investor visa for the last 4 years and be sponsored by a state or territory government to qualify for a permanent subclass 888 visa. A 2-year extension is possible, and you can extend your SIV two times.
Eligibility Criteria
You must be genuinely committed to:
- Stay in the nominated state or territory
- Maintain your business and investment activity in Australia even after the validity of your provisional visa is expired
- You, your partner or both have net assets of at least AUD5 million that are acquired legally and available for use to make the complying investment in Australia
- You must not have been associated or involved in deplorable business or investment activities
- You and all the dependent members of your family unit (above years 18 age) must provide assurance of not plunging into any action against the Commonwealth in case any loss happens concerning to the complying investment
- All the income earned from the complying investment in Australia must be subjected to tax under Australian taxation law
- Your complying investment or a complying significant investment must be of at least AUD 5 million over four years
Your complying significant investment should be in the following proportions:
- At least AUD500, 000 in venture capital and growth private equity funds, which make an investment in start-ups and small private companies
- At least AUD1.5 million in approved managed funds that invest in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
- At least AUD3 million in managed funds that invest in a range of assets including ASX listed companies or Australian corporate bonds, commercial real estate and annuities
Note: Investment must not be used as security or collateral for a loan. Also, there should not be a direct investment in residential real estate and the indirect investment through managed funds in the same should be in a limited amount.
Extending The Stay
You can extend your stay for another two years under the significant investor stream. You can also apply for the extension stream twice and get the highest eight years of validity on your provisional visa. To apply and be eligible for extension stream, you must:
- Hold a visa in the significant investor stream for at least 3 years or Not have held more than one visa in the significant investor stream
- Be nominated by a state or territory agency
- Be genuinely intended to live in the nominated state or territory
- Have maintained the complying investment or complying significant investment consistently in compliance with the investment framework
- You and all the dependant family members (aged 18 years or above) must sign Form 1412 that acknowledges of undertaking responsibility for financial and legal affairs and not incur any liability to the Australian government
- You must also ensure that the company was operating a qualifying business for the entire duration in case the period of direct involvement was less than 2 years. If that period is more than 2 years, you must ensure that the company possessed a qualifying business for at least 2 years.
Need assistance for Significant Investor Stream ?
Business migration can be extremely complex Even determining whether you have a good chance of qualifying can be difficult You may be able to qualify in a number of different business migration categories Check your likely eligibility for business migration Will provide you with a comprehensive preliminary assessment of your likely eligibility