If you hold a Business Innovation and Investment Provisional Visa Subclass 188 you have the option to apply for permanent residence under this visa.

Your application type will depend on which provisional visa stream you qualified for originally. This will be either the:

Business Innovation Stream: where you will have established a business in Australia and met government requirements for asset holdings and turnover
OR
Investor Stream: where you will have invested in Australian bonds for 4 years
Applying in Australia or overseas

You can apply via the Internet in Australia or overseas. In general, you must be the primary visa holder for your current subclass 188 Provisional Business Innovation and Investment Visa.

Obtaining State/Territory Nomination

You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government to be eligible for this visa.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

nominated by the state or territory government who nominated you for the subclass 188 visa, unless you have obtained permission to change State or Territory
show that you are committed to maintaining your Australian business or investments
have complied with all Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory laws
Additional standard requirements for Business Innovation Stream applicants

You must have:

owned a business and be intending to establish business operations in Australia
been residing in Australia for at least 1 of the 2 years prior to application
had an ownership interest in an Australian business for the last 2 years
have an ABN and have lodged the required Business Activity Statements (BAS) for the last 2 years
have a business turnover of at least AUD 300,000 for the last 12 months.
NOTE: If you live and run your business in a regional area you may be exempt from this requirement if the relevant State or Territory Government indicates there are exceptional circumstances

The two out of three rule

You must also meet 2 of the following 3 criteria for the 12 months prior to you application. You r business must:

have net assets of at least AUD 200,000
have net personal assets of at least AUD 600,000
employ two full-time equivalent employees who cannot be relatives but must be Australian permanent residents, citizens or NZ passport holders
Additional standard requirements for Investor Stream applicants

You must have:

resided in Australia for at least 2 of the last 4 years
maintained your AUD 1.5 million investment in Australian State or Territory Bonds for a continuous period of 4 years
NOTE: Applying to convert your temporary 188 visa to a permanent residency 888 visa can be complex.

If you would like a comprehensive assessment of your eligibility, we invite you to book an appointment with our business migration specialists.

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