Australia offers numerous immigration programs, with the main ones being skilled migration, employer-sponsored migration, and investment migration. Among these, the Australian investment immigration program is primarily a visa category designed for business owners and shareholders, and it is highly popular among Chinese entrepreneurs. As the Australian investment immigration program consists of different categories, how much does it cost to immigrate to Australia under these various categories?
The Australian investment immigration program is divided into three categories: the Australian 188 Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa, the Australian 888 Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa, and the Australian 132 Business Talent (Permanent) visa. The Australian 888 visa is a permanent residency visa applied for within Australia after holding the Australian 188 Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa for two years and meeting certain conditions. Obtaining an Australian Green Card, or permanent residency, is the ultimate goal for most overseas individuals immigrating to Australia. Therefore, Visas Consulting Group will focus below on how much it actually costs to obtain an Australian Green Card and become a permanent resident by transitioning from the 188 investment visa to the 888 visa.
I. Transitioning from the Australian 188 Provisional Visa to the Australian 888 Permanent Visa
The 188 visa is divided into five streams: 188A Business Innovation (Provisional) visa, 188B Investor (Provisional) visa, 188C Significant Investor (Provisional) visa, 188D Premium Investor (Provisional) visa, and 188E Entrepreneur (Provisional) visa. It is the first step toward obtaining the Australian 888 Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa.
1. Transitioning from Australian 188A to 888
In the four fiscal years prior to applying for the 188A visa, the applicant must have had an annual business turnover of over 500,000 AUD for at least two fiscal years;
In the 12 months prior to applying for the 888 visa, the annual turnover of the main business in Australia must be no less than 300,000 AUD (applicants residing and operating businesses in specific designated regional areas of Australia may be exempt).
2. Transitioning from Australian 188B to 888
Invest at least 1.5 million AUD in state government bonds and hold them for four years.
3. Transitioning from Australian 188C to 888
Invest at least 5 million AUD in complying investments or significant complying investments, and hold the complying investments for a total duration of no less than four years.
4. Transitioning from Australian 188D to 888
Applicants are required to invest at least 15 million AUD in the following investment projects:
(1) Enterprises listed on the Australian Securities Exchange;
(2) Australian government or semi-official bonds or promissory notes;
(3) Bonds or promissory notes issued by Australian exchange-listed entities (or wholly-owned subsidiaries of Australian listed entities) or investment-grade Australian corporate bonds, or promissory notes rated by a debt rating agency holding an AFS license;
(4) Australian limited liability companies;
(5) Australian real estate, excluding residential property;
(6) Deferred annuities issued by Australian registered life insurance companies;
(7) Charitable donations approved by the state government.
5. Transitioning from Australian 188E to 888
Obtain at least 200,000 AUD in investment funding from a third party and carry out successful entrepreneurial activities in Australia.