The 188 Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (EB-188) is designed for individuals with vast Business Skills. A subclass 188 is a provisional visa, it may however lead to permanent residence assuming an individual is able to meet eligibility criteria pertaining to grant of permanent residence.
EB-188 has the following streams:
- Business Innovation (188A)
- Investor (188B)
- Significant Investor (188C)
- Premium Investor (188D)
- Entrepreneur
Each stream caters towards different categories of applicants, individuals with high net worth, families and businesses looking for an opportunity to migrate to Australia and are willing to invest at least $5 million in the Australian markets for a minimum period of 4 years and use their proven skills to develop business activity in Australia may benefit from this visa. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government.
Unlike, Employer Nomination Scheme, the age of the applicant is measured at the date of invitation the applicant must not have turned 55. From time to time the ‘exceptional economic benefit’ provision gives the nominating State/Territory the flexibility to nominate applicants who are 55 or older proposing to establish a business that in the view of the State/Territory government agency will be of exceptional economic benefit to their State/Territory.
The benefits of subclass 188 visa (higher age cut-off and recognition of prior business experience) is self-evident. However, many applicants fail to transition to permanent residency as a result of being unable to meet the requirements associated with the grant of permanent residence which differ depending on the parameters of the provisional stream.
It is often advisable for those considering applying for a 188 to work alongside an investment fund manager in addition to having a migration agent. Investing is a specialist area and the guidelines around it is very regulated and compliant Investments can be done only with designed Fund managers who understand compliant requirement as laid down for business migration. As part of the process, investments have to be monitored on an ongoing basis. Client may require assistance in managing investments beyond the stipulated requirements.
On Wednesday 17 April I will be hosting a webinar covering subclass 188 visas. Topics will include:
Schedule 1 Criteria for making a valid application
Nomination Requirements
Schedule 2 and time of decision criteria
Issues associated with complying investments
To join me, please visit https://legaltrainingaustralia.com/webinar-cpd/ to secure your spot.