Business Visa – Innovation Stream
Subclass 888A
(Permanent)
Overview
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As a permanent visa, Businss Visa – Innovation stream (Subclass 888A) is the second and final stage of Business Visa – Innovation stream (Subclass 188A) and lets holders of a particular group of visas (see Eligibility below) to stay permanently in Australia whilst continuing their business activities.
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Simpler than the first stage, this visa involves no points test or Expression of Interest (EOI), but does require state/territory nomination.
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You may include your family in your visa application so your entire family can migrate together.
Process
Step 1 – Apply for state/territory nomination
Step 2 – Submit application for Subclass 888A visa once nomination is approved
Eligibility
Visa: have held Business Visa – Innovation stream (Subclass 188A), Business Visa – Innovation Extension stream or Special Category visa (Subclass 444) for at least 3 years (unless COVID-19 concessions apply – see below)
Obtain nomination from state/territory government
Business Turnover: Your business or businesses had an annual turnover of at least AUD 300,000 in the 12 months immediately before the application
Ownership Interest and Management Role: for the 2 years immediately before you apply, you must have:
- had, and continue to have, an ownership interest in up to two main businesses in Australia
- had a direct and continuous management role in that business or businesses
- submitted Business Activity Statements to the Australian Taxation Office
- an Australian Business Number for each of your main businesses
Business Share: for the 2 years immediately before you apply, you must own at least:
- 51% of the total value of a business with a turnover of less than AUD 400,000 per year, or
- 30% of the total value of a business with a turnover of AUD 400,000 or more per year, or
- 10% of the total value of a business that is operated by a publicly listed company
Assets and Labour: for the 12 months immediately before you apply, you, or together with your partner, must show at least 2 of the following
- assets of AUD 200,000 net value in your main business (or 2 main businesses) in Australia
- personal and business assets in Australia of AUD 600,000 net value
- equivalent of at least 2 full-time eligible employees in your main business who are Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or holders of valid New Zealand passports and are not members of your family
Residence: have been physically present in Australia for at least 1 in the past 2 years (unless COVID-19 concessions apply – see below)
Have not had involvement in unacceptable business or investment activities
Meet health and character requirements
Have functional English (or a second instalment of application fee applies)
COVID-19 Concessions
Arrangements are in place for provisional visa holders who may have been disadvantaged as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘COVID-19 concession period’ commenced 1 February 2020 and is ongoing.
Residence Concessions
If you were outside Australia during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’, time spent overseas will count as time being in Australia if you were the holder of one of the following visas during the ‘COVID-19 concession period:
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Business Visa – Innovation Extension stream (Subclass 188)
Visa Expiry Concessions
From 19 September 2020 until 3 months after the end of the ‘COVID-19 concession period’ you can apply for this visa if:
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Your first Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream was granted on or before 30 June 2019; and
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one of the following applies:
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held a Business Visa – Innovation stream (subclass 188A) or Business Visa – Innovation Extension stream (Subclass 188) which expired during the concession period; or
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your visa expired during the concession period and your partner was the primary holder of a Business Visa – Innovation stream (subclass 188A) or Business Visa – Innovation Extension stream (Subclass 188).
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Location
Applicants may be in or outside Australia at the time of application and visa grant.
Duration of Stay
This is a permanent visa that allows you to stay permanently in Australia. However, its travel facility expires after 5 years so you will need to apply for Resident Return Visa (Subclass 155 & 157) or Australian citizenship (if eligible) if you wish to travel overseas and back to Australia after the expiry date.
Tricks and Common Reasons for Refusal
1 – Unfamiliarity with How the Australian Immigration Works and Its Mentality
In many cases, applicants prepare and submit their supporting documentation in a disorderly way, giving the Immigration a hard time digging through tons of paperwork to get things in the right order when picking up a new visa application. This will potentially lead to endless back-and-forth clarification and explanation, wasting both sides lots of time and can even result in a refusal of Subclass 888A visa.
This is common since applying for a visa, especially a permanent one, is the very first time to most applicants. For this reason, our team have developed our own system for labelling, coding, structuring and, where necessary, cross-referencing documentation so your application can be submitted in the most presentable and logical manner. Making your application stand out among all competitors has been our goal from day one.
2 – Careless Yet Costly Mistakes
Applying for migration is seen as a delicate work of art due to the staggering amount of attention, paperwork, and details involved. A seemingly minor/harmless error such as a typo in your résumé, a date entered wrong, or a tick in the wrong box in the lengthy visa application form can prove costly as the Immigration processes all visa applications strictly in accordance with migration law, in particular Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994. Even a small error can be regarded as failing to satisfy a visa requirement and therefore lead to a visa refusal. To minimise such incidents, our team pay extra attention while editing and drafting every client’s paperwork and always proofread and also conduct a final review of documentation before submission.
3 – Applications Not Being Decision-ready
Another common reason of refusal for Subclass 888 visa is submitting an application without all the required documentation. This happens incidentally when the application was prepared carelessly, or intentionally when the applicant was trying to rush an application for whatever reason (e.g. meeting a cut-off date of a major migration policy change, which happens almost each and every year and often catches people off guard). Even with nearly 20 years of experience, we handle each application meticulously as our first to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Should a sudden change of policy hit and impact you, we are more than capable of advising you what documents are mandatory at the time of submission and what can wait so you are not in danger of a straight-up visa refusal upon submission.
Benefits
With this visa, you may:
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migrate to Australia together with your family
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stay and live in Australia permanently
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potentially bring your extended family members to Australia permanently on parent visa or visa intended for other relatives
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access various government benefits, including but not limited to:
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pension
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unemployment and job-seeking benefits
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cocession cards for commuting
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benefits associated with new-born baby
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interest-free school loan
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travel overseas and back to Australia without limitations for any purposes (e.g. overseas holiday, visiting family and/or attending family matters in home country)
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access Australia’s public health care scheme (Medicare) which essentially provides free medical consultations, operations and hospitalization for a wide range of medical conditions
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study in Australia without any limitations
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attend free English language course provided by Australian government
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apply for Australian citizenship when eligible
Application Fees
You may include your family in the application so your family can migrate to Australia together.
First Instalment
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Main applicant: $2935
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Each secondary applicant aged 18 or over: $1470
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Each secondary applicant under 18: $730
Second Instalment
For each secondary applicant at least 18 is assessed as not having functional English at the time of application, a second instalment of $4890 applies.
Please note: you may incur third-party charges, for example, for assets valuation, translation, English test, police certificate and health exam.
Processing Time
Kindly note the processing time constantly varies. Please contact us for update.
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75% of applications: 24 months
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90% of applications: 26 months
Unbeatable 5-step Services at Microscopic Level - How Exactly We Make It Hassle-free
Step 1: Initial Consultation
During our initial consultation, we thoroughly advise you on:
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your visa options and related matters
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your detailed application process
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potential challenges and solutions based upon your circumstances
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business sponsorship obligations for you as well as your employer
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your work rights during different stages of the application process
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estimate timeframe for preparing your application and its processing time
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compliances issues, including but not limited to how you ought to comply with your visa conditions
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potential breaches of business sponsorship obligations, and consequential sanctions and penalties
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fees involved in each stage (e.g. skills assessment, state/territory nomination, visa application, health examination, police certificate)
It goes without saying the first and foremost thing in a visa application is get a clear picture of what visas you are indeed eligible for, and equally importantly, which one of them suits you the most. We’ve seen too many clients who, for some reason, rushed an application and halfway through realised they were not actually on the right path due to ineligibility issues before approaching us, for example, because:
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their self-claimed work experience was not or only partially accepted by the Immigration, which was unfortunately common
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the length of their work experience or residence in Australia (as required by some visas) was not recognised by the Immigration
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they settled on an unsuitable occupation at the beginning of a work/employment visa application just because the occupation was migration-eligible whereas their daily duties failed to be in line with the prescribed job tasks of the selected occupation
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they simply took into consideration the visa requirements by the Immigration without even considering the criteria of skills assessment by the skills assessing body as well as those of the government for state/territory nomination which vary from time to time even without prior notice
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they applied for the partner visa they were not actually eligible for as they failed to meet the cohabitation requirement from the Immigration’s perspective
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the turnover and/or assets they relied on for business visa application was not recognised by the Immigration due to various reasons
Step 2 – Letter of Advice
Following the consultation, we will email you a letter of advice containing what we discussed during the initial consultation in case you miss out on anything. This gives you peace of mind as it outlines everything there is to know about your visa application.
Step 3 – Gathering Supporting Documents
During this stage, we will:
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send you a one-in-all, comprehensive and exclusive checklist for all the supporting documents you will need to provide and the checklist:
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outlines the detailed requirements (e.g. format, word limit, size limit, points of emphasis and information to be included and excluded) for each and every document you will need to provide
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contains critically useful templates not available anywhere else that are highly relevant to your visa application, for example, for work reference, employment contract and relationship statement depending on the type of visa you apply for
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working closely with you throughout to ensure supporting documentation is collected and done just right
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compile and filter your documents, retaining only the relevant ones and leave out those not to-the-point. Remember: it’s not ‘the more, the better’ when it comes to a visa application. Rather, being selective about what to submit and how to present it is actually more important
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clearly label and cross-reference your documents to ensure they are in the most organised and presentable manner in the eyes of the Immigration
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stay in touch with you by phone and email and you are also more than welcome to visit our office to chat to us in person
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clarify any doubts or questions you may have regarding your application so you can stay on top of things
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when ready, draft and submit EOI, skills assessment application, state/territory nomination application and visa application for you
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drafting certain legal documents for you where appropriate to make things easier for you
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keep you in the loop of any migration law update that may affect you, especially your visa eligibility
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thoroughly review all supporting documents you sent through to us
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correct errors in documents we received where appropriate or let you know exactly where and how you need to rectify an issue
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remind you of outstanding supporting documents via phone or email so that you are fully aware of where we are on your application anytime
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liaise with your partner (for partner visa application) or employer (for employer-sponsored visas) for missing information or clarification where necessary
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liaise with other third parties involved, including but not limited to skills assessing authorities, state/territory governments and the Immigration on your behalf to seek clarification on key information
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conduct a final review of your supporting documentation before the final submission
Step 4 - Submitting Your Visa Application
Upon the completion of the final review of, we will:
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attach all supporting documentation to your application
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submit your visa application to the Immigration
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email through the receipts for visa application fees for your record
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advise you of the most updated visa processing time so you know what to expect
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email you the bridging visa grant letter if applicable so you can breathe a sigh a relief and remain in Australia without having to leave while your application is being processed by the Immigration
Step 5 – After the Submission Until a Decision Is Made by the Immigration
Following the submission, we will:
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constantly keep an eye on your lodged application
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liaise with the Immigration in a timely manner, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks where the Immigration requires additional supporting documents and/or information, which is fairly common because it is a judgement call by the Immigration officer at the end of the day despite the seemingly straightforward visa criteria
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decide on the best approach to addressing the Immigration’s query by drawing on our nearly 20 years of expertise
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keep you updated should there be any notifications from the Immigration
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assist you in preparing the requested documents and/or information and submit them on your behalf
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chase up your application with the Immigration, especially when it has gone beyond the expected timeframe
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instruct you on when and how to book health examination and obtain police clearance
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notify you of the application outcome
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if application is successful - send you the visa grant letter and explain to you your employment and residence rights and the range of benefits you are entitled to
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if application is unsuccessful - properly advise you on your options moving forward to eventually obtain the visa you are after
Please note a client refers to a visa applicant, their family members or a sponsoring employer where applicable.
