Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188B) – Investor stream

Eligibility criteria

Visa criteria

Meet the Home Affairs requirements for the  Business Innovation and Investment (provisional) visa (subclass 188) – Investor stream.

Personal background

You must be under 50 years of age and have either:

• a bachelor's degree recognised as equivalent to the Australian standard, or
• in the past 10 years have at least:
  • 5 years of successful investment history, or
  • 3 years work experience in a NSW target sector, or 
  • 5 years work experience in a non-target sector

Investment background

For at least one of the five most recent fiscal years, you have directly managed one of the following:

• a qualifying business in which you, your partner, or you and your partner together had at least 10% ownership interest, or
• an eligible investment of at least A$2,500,000 owned by you, your partner, or you and your partner together

Net assets

For the two most recent fiscal years, you, your partner, or you and your partner together have combined personal and business net assets of at least A$2,500,000.

Complying investments

You must make a complying significant investment of at least A$2,500,000 and have a genuine intention to hold that investment for the life of your provisional visa.

It must be invested in the following proportions:

• at least A$500,000 in venture capital and growth private equity funds which invest in start-ups and small private companies
• at least A$750,000 in approved managed funds. The managed funds must invest in emerging companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
• a ‘balancing investment’ of at least A$1,250,000 in managed funds

Investing in NSW

To qualify for NSW nomination, you must show that your complying investments will make a contribution to the NSW economy.

NSW will refuse your nomination application for a permanent visa (subclass 888) if you cannot show your complying investments meet the following criteria:

Venture Capital and Growth Private Equity investment

At least 50% of your venture capital component must be invested in: 

• a venture capital fund that makes eligible investments in businesses headquartered in NSW; and

• the general partner of the venture capital fund maintains an office in NSW 

Emerging companies

At least 50% of the emerging companies component must be invested in securities issued by a company or trustee headquartered in NSW, that are either: 

• quoted on ASX Limited; or  

• securities (Australian non-ASX quoted securities) quoted on an Australian securities exchange other than ASX limited 

Balancing investment

At least 50% of your balancing investments must bring benefits to NSW. This can be shown where:

• the funds have an office in NSW; or
• the business of underlying investment is headquartered in NSW; or
• the business activities of underlying investment are of economic benefit to NSW

Living in NSW

You must have a genuine commitment to reside in NSW and contribute to NSW through your investment activity.

Points test

Your SkillSelect EOI must show a minimum score of 65 points. Applications showing the following will be prioritised:

• Points in investor experience, or
• 35 points in financial assets, or
• Points for business innovation qualifications

How to apply

Important information

Incomplete applications

You must submit a complete application, including all relevant evidence to support your eligibility claims when you apply to NSW.

Respond to requests for further information

If we require further information to assess your application:

• you will have two weeks to provide the requested information
• if you do not respond within two weeks, we may refuse your application

Do not ask for an update on your application

Please do not ask for an update on your application. 

Our application assessment team is also responsible for responding to enquiries. Unnecessary enquiries significantly slows down our application processing times.

Withdrawing your application

You can withdraw your application at any stage. Please Contact us to withdraw your application.

Providing false or misleading information

If you provide false or misleading information when you apply to NSW, you will be refused. NSW may also report you to Home Affairs to conduct their own investigation.

NSW conducts verification checks on many of the documents you provide.

Renomination

NSW will not renominate applicants where:

• you do not apply to Home Affairs for the visa within 60 days, or
• your EOI was incorrect when NSW nominated you