Residence-by-Investment Australia

Visa applicants must meet certain criteria prescribed to the appropriate visa subclass. The criteria prescribed to a visa application will include either ‘at time of lodgement’ requirements, ‘at time of decision’ requirements or a combination of both. Visa applications may be refused if an applicant does not demonstrate that they meet the criteria at the correct time. All visa subclasses include the requirement to satisfy certain health, character and public interest criteria. 

Permanent residents are required to spend at least two years in five in Australia, or demonstrate significant ties to Australia, in order to maintain their residence status. 

The Australian visa application process is very structured and based on laws, regulations, policy and legislative instruments. Application processing timeframes differ significantly by visa type. Immigration has a priority processing tier, under which visa applications which yield the greatest benefit to the country (skilled visas) will be assessed quicker than those with little benefit (family visas). 

Within the temporary and permanent residence programs, there are currently approximately 188 visas known as ‘subclasses’.    

The Business Innovation and Investment Programme includes the four following visa streams:

• The Business Innovation stream, for people with business skills who want to establish, develop and manage a new or existing business in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.
• The Investor stream, for people who want to make a designated investment of at least AUD 1.5 million in an Australian state or territory and maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.
• The Significant Investor stream, for people who are willing to invest at least AUD 5 million into complying significant investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government.
• The Premium Investor stream, for people who are willing to invest at least AUD 15 million into complying premium investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by Austrade on behalf of the Australian government. You must submit an Expression of Interest and be nominated by a state or territory government or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government before being invited to apply for this visa.