In August 2022 the States and Territories were only given a total of 810 allocations for 188 visas. All states and territories aside from Move to South Ausralia have now run out of business visa allocations.
On 8 December 2022, the Migration Program Planning Levels for 2022-2023 were released.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government did not allocate any more places to any of the states/territories for Business Investment Visa 188.
So with no state nominations available, the Federal Government has effectively closed the 188 visa for this migration year, up until the 30 June 2023.
This is a type of stealth closure, without an announcement by the Federal Government, but with the same effect.
The 188 visa is called the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP).
Entrepreneur stream- Visa 188E Australia. This visa stream lets you carry out entrepreneurial activities in Australia. You can stay for up to 5 years .
Each stream requires that the applicant to obtain state nomination before lodging a visa.
With no further allocations available to the states from the Federal Government, the 188 has been effectivly closed up until 1 July 2023.
Today’s ever changing economic climate can result in necessary changes to business plans.
What happens if you were approved for state nomination based on a particular business plan, and then this plan changes after your 188A visa is granted?
Overview of 188a Business Innovation Visa Australia
States have announced that they are running out of allocations as they are working from a interim allocation of about 800 places. 800 places for all states and territories are too short to fill up the demand of the Business and Investor visa program in Australia.
Watch our full video about Business Visa news in November 2022 here:
In that, QLD and NSW have already used up their interim allocation and closed the program temporarily. VIC and SA are very careful in selecting the applicants. SA decided to temporarily close the Investor Stream 188B and Significant Investor Stream 188C streams.
Hopefully, the states can receive further allocations for the Business Visa Australia shortly after the Federal Budgets announcement and open to all the streams.
Now, let's look at some of the most popular stream in Business Visa 188 Australia and why should you go for it.
The 188A Business Innovation stream remains popular among applicants all over the world. This is because it has lower capital rewquiremetns than the investor path, and builds on the applicants existing business skills.
The 188C Significant Investor stream is the most simple one except for the amount if investment fund with NOT much criteria including:
No Age limit (good for parents who are not able to do parent visa 143);
No English Requirement (You only need to pay for the secondary fee for non-english applicant);
No Qualification or Business Skills and experience required;
No Points Test (Business Innovation stream 188A and Investor Stream 188B requires Points Testing)
In order to find your best Business and Investor Visa Australia, please use our Business Visa Compare tool:
Business and Investor Visa news recap
There is still a shadow over the 188C visa which requires a 5 million dollar investment.
"I think most Australians would be pretty offended by the idea that we've got a visa category here where effectively you can buy your way into the country,"
"I don't see a lot of great benefits to the country currently." When she was asked by Andrew from Sky News if the Golden Visa Australia (Significant Investor Visa 188C) might be abolished.
The minister has criticized the Significant investor visa to be bringing in older people who can cost the budget.
=> Applicants wish to put in a SIV application need to take actions as soon as possible.
Or, you may consider to apply for a 188B - Investor Stream instead.
Similar to 188C, 188B Visa requires applicants to invest 2.5 million Australian Dollarto the complying investment fund of Australia. It also has a pathway to Australian Permanent Residency.
The 188B Visa has grown in popularity recently and the comments on the SIV may make more people consider the visa 188 Investor stream.
The final category is the 188E Entrepreneur Stream.
While it has no capital investment requirement, the level of interest is surprising low. This may be because the of the requirements being harder to quantify or predict.
The 188E visa requires applicant to show innovated business ideas.
State such as SA and Victoria require endorsement from service providers or investor incubator bodies.
There is a pathway to permanent residency after you hold the visa for 2 years and have a successful record of entrepreneurial activities.
Ministerial Direction 100 - Business Visa Processing
Following the Federal Budget, there is a new Ministerial Direction 100 for skilled visa processing priority instruction published recently.
The new labor government has pointed out that their primary focus at this stage is to:
- Clear the visa backlogs caused by the delay in processing time during Pandemic Covid-19.
- Address skills shortages
The government will still process efficiently those skilled visas in the near future to make the visa backlogs to a manageable level before Christmas.
The following skilled visas are subject to Ministerial Direction No. 100:
In the last point of the Direction 100 Factsheet, it says that the Government will reduce priority to some programs to shift attention to skilled visas such as State Nomination, Employer Sponsorship program.
The report states that this reduction will help increase efficiencies in reducing processing times across caseloads. This is reflected by the total allocation number of those programs this financial year 2023.
However, Visa applications for the Global Talent and Business & Investment program will still be processed efficiently in line with the planning levels of the Migration Program.
Summary of current Business Investment Visa Australia situation
In summary, the allocations are now lower, at 5000. But with only 800 state allocations so far, there is still over 4000 potential places to be sending out in the next 7 months.
The demand on the Business Investment visa 188 is still high so the new allocations could be filled quickly. Imagine the 800 allocations have been filled within 2 months since announcement, the rest is expected to be running out soon in 3-4 months.
This leads to a more selective process from the government. That means your documents and profile must be clear and well-managed to be successfully get the visa 188.
An application for business or investment visa Australia must be handled with care as it involves demonstration of significant assets (AUD 2.5 - 5 million) and the preparation to liquidate the amount for transfer into the complying investments before the visa is granted.
The team at Work Visa Lawyers has extensive experience in compiling financial and business documents from different countries and submitting the information in an organised manner for the DHA to process the documents smoothly.
Today we are going to talk about the recent news about business innovation and investment visa 188 in Australia.
There is not so much good news regarding the Business and Investment Visa in Australia recently from the minister's talk and the Business Visa Allocation announced in late August 2022.
There are comments that Investor Visa streams do not bring benefits to Australia or are being criticized by the Minister of Home Affairs, Ms Clare O'Neil and the Grattan Institute.
State criteria has become more difficult for the Business Innovation stream 188a visa with higher points score. This is due to the low allocation provided by the Department of Home Affair which makes it harder to nominate applicants for states and territories.
Though there is negative news, the business and investor visa program is still very beneficial to Australia on my perspective. There are a lot of values it brings that are mentioned in the video.
It becomes more difficult to get a 188A, the applicants need to apply for ITR and be invited to apply for nomination.
Other than that, applicants must:
- Score at least 80 points in the points test (including state nomination points).
- Provide a business plan detailing the economic impact of your proposal to South Australia
A business plan will be given more weight in terms of nomination ranking factors.
It is also more difficult to get 888A Business Innovation Stream (PR Australia):
Higher investment requirement, 300k instead of 200k, AND
2 full-time employees
Director's loan is not considered as business asset by Move to SA.
It wants the 188A visa holders to spend the money in SA to show Benefits to the State!
Business and Investor Visa QLD
Migration Queensland advises that the interim nomination allocation (quota) for the business program (BIIP) has now been filled.
However, the business program remains open and MQ will continue to process applications – although we are unable to nominate on Skillselect.
MQ is currently awaiting further advice from Home Affairs as to when this final allocation will be provided.
For applications that are already submitted to MQ, and would like to withdraw to apply to another state or territory, please contact us here.
SIV news from the Minister’s talk
In the latest talk, Minister Clare O’Neil mentioned:
"I think most Australians would be pretty offended by the idea that we've got a visa category here where effectively you can buy your way into the country,"
"I don't see a lot of great benefits to the country currently." When she was asked by Andrew if the Golden Visa Australia might be abolished.
The minister has criticized the Significant investor visa to be bringing in older people who can cost the budget.
Investor Visa Australia - Comments from Grattan Institute
These comments reflect what has been published by the Grattan Institute, a private research body in which recommends public policy.
The Grattan Institute has put forward the view that business migrants pay less tax over the lifetime than skilled visa migrant workers.
The institution seems to be criticizing all 4 streams of the business and innovation program.
What is the future for Business and Investor Visas Australia?
There is a strong possibility that the Federal Government will totally cut the Significant Investor Visa stream of the 188 sometime in the future.
There is also an unanswered question that will also cut the investor visa.
This is also referred to as the 188B Visa Australia.
It requires a 2.5 million investment into the complying fund.
But the investor is difficult because it does have a prerequisite of investment experience and an age limit of 55.
We still need more time to see what is going to happen with the Significant investor stream and the investor stream.
In the meantime, it is still available and no ministerial guidelines about the abolishment of the program.
Chris's comment on current Business and Investor Visa news
I personally don’t agree with the analysis of the Minister nor the Grattan institute
The measure of individual tax payment does not reflect the true benefits of business and investment visas.
These include:
Create capital for small businesses or venture capital funds
Create more jobs for Australians
Export Australian products especially 188a visa stream
Create ties to increase international relations.
Can promote regional property development, especially for 188A stream
What to do now?
With limited allocations, it is no doubt the business visa program will become more difficult
The quotas can be filled very quickly before this financial year ends.
There is also the possibility that some of the 188 visa streams will be cut.
So if you are interested in a business and investment visa in Australia, you should consider applying soon.
If you want a business visa in Australia, please book an appointment or use our Business Visa Compare tool.
With Business visa compare, you only need 5 minutes to answer some simple questions and get your best business visa options.
Australia is always the top desitnation for family to enjoy the quality of living standard, education and outdoor activities. Work Visa Lawyers has professional Immigration Lawyers and Agents to deal with your Visa matters. We also have trusted financial advisory partners who are eligible to manage your investment portfolio in Australia.
For a quick assessment of your best Australian Business Visa options, please visit our FREE assessment tool: Business Visa Compare
More about the Business Visa Australia Agents and Lawyers
Understanding the difficulties in choosing the best Australian Business Visa options, Business Visa 188 Agents and Lawyers team have worked together to create this tool to help experienced business owners or investors find their best Business and Investor Visa options in Australia.
Work Visa Lawyers has strong immigration knowledge and committed to keep updating our website and Business Innovation and Investment news in Australia.
Work Visa Lawyers ® is a migration firm founded by Lawyer Chris Johnston in 2011. Our team is focused on providing quality immigration services to our clients, wherever they are in the world. We speak English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Tagalog (Filipino), Portuguese and Vietnamese.
We can help you with the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) for the following four streams and Global Talent Visa:
We are experts in Business and Investor Visas 188 and Global Talent Visa 858 in Australia. We help overseas business owners, investors to create a new life in Australia with their family much faster through those visa streams.
