Update: Australia’s Business and Investment Visa Changes
Changes on Business and Investment Visa has been announced by the Morrison Government, which aims to reform business and investor visas and maximize the economic benefits for Australia. It is due to governments all over the world have been formulating policies in support of economic recovery, the Morrison Government has recently announced another immigration updates, which aims to reform business and investor visas and maximize the economic benefits for Australia.
The current Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) will now be cut back into four streams with tougher investment requirements, as a part of Morrison’s plan to support Australia’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
What is Business Innovation and Investment Program?
Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) aims to encourage entrepreneurs and successful business owners to settle in Australia and contribute to Australia’s development through their business skills and abilities. Under this visa you will be allowed to own and manage a business in Australia, control business and investment activity in Australia.
Find out more about Business Innovation and Investment Program here.
What are The Changes for Business Innovation and Investment Program?
Significant Streams Changes
The new program will be reduced from nine streams to the below four streams:
- Business Innovation
- Entrepreneur
- Investor
- Significant Investor
Under this new regulation, Provisional visa holders in all four streams will be able to apply for permanent residence if they meet the requirements after three years, but the provisional visa will now be valid for five years, meaning they have additional time to meet the requirements. Not to mention, the Australian Government will also be discussing with industry to communicate any further changes to the Complying Investment Framework. Any adjustments to the framework will be disclose in the early half of the next year.
Business Innovation Visas
One of the key changes of this programme will be impacting the Business Innovation and Significant Investor visa holders. Under this new adjustments, visa holders will also continue to be able to extend their provisional visas if within the required timeline, they do not met the business and residency thresholds. In addition, if Business Innovation Provisional Visa Holders are able to show reasonable commitment to continue managing a business that has been operating in Australia for the previous two years, then they may apply for a two-year extension.
The requirements for business innovation visa applicants will be expanded to ensure that the program draws migrants with demonstrated business expertise. In order to show their Business acumen, Business Innovation Visa applicants will be expected to maintain business and personal assets of $1.25 million (up from $800,000) and to have an annual turnover of $750,000 (up from $500,000) These new changes aims to maximise economic contribution of these high-value investors to get the best possible outcome for Australians.
If you wish to check your eligibility for Business Innovation visa, please contact us via email [email protected] or via phone on 1300 827 159.
Significant Investor Visas
Not only Business Innovation Visa holders that will be impacted by these adjustments, Significant Investor visa holders will also be impacted. The government has allowed Significant Investor Visa holders to continue to be able to extend their provisional visas if they do not meet the business and residence thresholds in the required time frame. As well as applying for two, two-year extensions provided that they continue to make significant investments in enforcement.
Entrepreneur Visas
Some visas will have simpler thresholds, such as Entrepreneur visa applicants whose current $200,000 funding threshold will be eliminated. Applicants would also need to be supported by a government of the state or region, however. This follows the successful Supporting Innovation in South Australia pilot program which will create additional opportunities for countries and territories to recruit foreign entrepreneurs.
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When Will These Business and Investment Visa Changes Take Effect?
As of 1 July 2021, new applications will be closed for the Premium Investor, Significant Business History and Venture Capital Entrepreneur visas. Applications already lodged for these visas will still be processed.
Why did the government make these changes?
As the requirements have not changed since 2012 when the program was first introduced, these changes are made to be aligned with Australia’s 2020-2021 migration program which focused on job creators, those with key skills and migrants who are going to add value for Australia’s future. Additionally, despite Australia’s threshold being greater than any other countries, this program has increasing demand which indicates that applicants have some potential and willingness to invest above the average threshold. Hence, these changes are one-way therefore to optimize the return to the economy of Australia.
What do the Business and Investment Visa changes mean for Migrant Investors?
These new changes will open up more opportunities for you who want to invest and manage a business in Australia as the number of spots available in the BIIP has doubled from 6862 in 2019-20 to 13,500 for 2020-2021. It also opens up another pathway for you who wants to obtain Permanent Residence, as there will be a clear pathway for Permanent Residence for each four streams.
Still not sure how this can affect you? Speak to us, we are here to help!
We understand that applying for a visa to Australia is certainly very complex. It is even harder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our visa specialists at ONE derland Consulting will help you assess your visa options. We have a 98% success rate and one of the most highly recommended migration agents in Australia. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.
We specialise in complex visa cases. As registered Australian migration agents with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), we are regulated in our professional practice and bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.
Take the first leap and get in touch with us. Our migration agents and our team are professional and honest. Our team members are also able to speak in various languages such as Mandarin/ Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, Polish, German, and Russian. Contact us through email at [email protected] or via phone on 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you may book your consultation online and it is 100% refundable if you become our client.
