Business Skills

Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa:

This visa allows you to own and manage a business in Australia, conduct business and investment activity in Australia or undertake an entrepreneurial activity in Australia.

Basic Eligibility

• Submit an expression of interest (EOI) in SkillSelect
• Nominated by a State or Territory government agency or Austrade
• Invited to apply for the visa

Business Innovation stream:

• This provisional visa is for people with business skills. It lets you operate a new or existing business in Australia.
• ​You must operate a new or existing business in Australia.
• You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency.

Investor stream:

This provisional visa requires you to invest at least AUD1.5 million in an Australian State or Territory and maintain business or investment activity in Australia.

• ​You must invest AUD1.5 million in an Australian State or Territory.
• You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency.

Significant Investor stream:

This provisional visa is for people who invest at least AUD5 million in Australian investments that meet certain requirements and maintain investment activity in Australia.

• ​You must invest at least AUD5 million in complying with significant investments in Australia.
• You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency or Austrade.

Business Innovation Extension stream:

This provisional visa lets holders of the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream extend their stay in Australia for 2 more years, or up to 4 more years if COVID-19 concessions apply.

• Stay 6 years after the date of the grant of the original Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Innovation stream that you held at the time of application, or 8 years after the date of the grant of the original Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Business Innovation stream if the visa that you held at the time of application was a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Business Innovation Extension stream and COVID-19 concessions apply.
• ​Extend your stay for up to 2 more years. This means you can stay in Australia for a total of 6 years from the date of grant of your Subclass 188 visa in the Business Innovation stream.
• You can only have held 1 Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188).
• You must hold a Subclass 188 visa in the Business Innovation stream.
• You must have held your Subclass 188 visa in the Business Innovation stream for at least 3 years.
• You must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency.

Business Skills (Provisional) visas (subclasses 160-165):
This information is for people who have already been granted one of the following visas:

• the Business Owner (Provisional) visa (subclass 160)
• the Senior Executive (Provisional) visa (subclass 161)
• the Investor (Provisional) visa (subclass 162)
• the State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner (Provisional) visa (subclass 163)
• the State/Territory Sponsored Senior Executive (Provisional) visa (subclass 164)
• the State/Territory Sponsored Investor (Provisional) visa (subclass 165).

This visa is closed to new applicants. Dependent children can be added to the visa application at any time until the application is decided.

Family members of people who already hold these visas might be able to get the same visa. If you have already applied for one of these visas and it has not yet been decided, you can also add your dependent children or your partner’s dependent children to your visa application until the application is decided.

Your eligible family members can apply for this visa when they are in or outside of Australia. Someone who applies for this visa must be outside Australia when it is granted unless they held a student visa when they applied. In this case, they can be in or outside Australia when the visa is granted.