In September 2021 South Australia opened for applications for the 188 Entrepreneur visa and announced it had made some changes to the eligibility criteria which make it much easier to get.  Previously this visa was limited to applicants who had already secured financial backing for their businesses but the new version is much more accessible.  For the right person with the right business proposal, the Entrepreneur visa can offer a path to Australian permanent residency.

Background

The Business Innovation and Investment Program encompasses Australia’s range of business and investment visas.  It incorporates the 188 visa and all its sub-streams, and the 888 permanent visa.  Once an applicant has completed their 5 year stay on the 188 visa, if they have fulfilled the obligations of their visa they may apply for the 888 visa which grants them permanent residency.  There are multiple streams under each visa heading but today we’re looking at the 188 Entrepreneur stream, also known as the Entrepreneur Visa - a visa for ambitious business people wanting to start an enterprise in Australia.

What are the Benefits of the 188 Entrepreneur Visa?

The Entrepreneur visa allows you and immediate members of your family to live and work in Australia.  After 3 years you can apply for permanent residency and eventually, citizenship too. 

Who Is Eligible?

To be eligible for the Entrepreneur Visa anywhere in Australia, you must meet the Federal Requirements.  The Federal Requirements for the 188 visa are that you must:

Federal Requirements

• Propose to undertake a business activity in Australia that will lead to the commercialisation of an innovative product or services in Australia
• Have at least a competent level of English
• Be nominated by a state
• Meet the health and character requirements
• Be under 55 years of age or be able to show your business will provide an exceptional economic benefit to Australia
• Sign a values statement
• Owe no debt to the Australian government, and
• Not have previously had a visa cancelled or an application refused.

In addition to these, you must comply with any additional requirements of the state you intend to live in.  The South Australian Requirements for the 188 Entrepreneur visa are that you must:

South Australian Requirements

• Intend to live in South Australia
• Propose your business be based in South Australia
• Be nominated by a Service Provider, and
• Provide a detailed proposal for your Australian business.

Who cannot Apply?

Unfortunately, holders of certain visas are deemed ineligible to apply for the South Australian Entrepreneur Visa.  You will be immediately refused if you are a holder of a:

• Student visa of any kind (including 500, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574)
• 403 Temporary Work visa, or
• 771 Transit visa.

Do I need to be in Australia to apply?

You can apply for the South Australian Entrepreneur visa from anywhere in the world! There is no need to be onshore.

Service Providers

In order to be eligible for the South Australian Entrepreneur Visa, you must be nominated by a Service Provider.  These Service Providers are a group of organisations dedicated to working with new and growing businesses. The Service Providers are:

• Stone & Chalk

• New Venture Institute (Flinders University)

• Moonshots

• Thinclab (The University of Adelaide)

• The Innovation & Collaboration Centre (UniSA)

What Types of Business does South Australia Want?

The proposed business must be likely to, in the opinion of the Australian Government, achieve the 888 Entrepreneur visa criteria within 5 years.  The criteria are divided into “Key Factors” and “Supporting Success Factors”.  You will need to demonstrate you are likely to meet either:

• 2 x Key Success Factors; or
• 1 x Key Success Factors and 3 Supporting Success Factors

Remember, you don’t need to already be fulfilling these criteria – you just have to show that you are likely to fulfil them in the next 5 years.  As far as what your business actually does, it doesn’t matter so long as it is likely to fulfil the criteria.  There are 3 prohibited categories:

1. Labour hire
2. Residential real estate
3. Purchasing an existing business,

And of course, your business idea needs to be legal and ethical.  So long as it fits the criteria and isn’t one of the prohibited categories, it could be anything from creative arts to space technology!

What about states other than South Australia?

The only other state that is accepting applications for the 188 Entrepreneur visa outside of South Australia is New South Wales (NSW) however the criteria for eligibility are higher in NSW.  In addition to meeting the Federal Requirements, the NSW Requirements are that you must:

New South Wales Requirements

• Already have funding secured for your business project;
• Funding must be secured from an approved entity (an Australian Government agency, publicly-funded research organisation, university, or an approved investor).
• Be nominated by an approved NSW Startup Program;
• Submit a detailed business proposal;
• Commit to living and working in NSW; and
• Have your business headquarters in NSW.

The difference here is that for an 188 Entrepreneur Visa in NSW, you must have already secured your funding. In South Australia, you need only show that you are likely to secure funding.

You can read more about the NSW program here.

How do I apply for the South Australian 188 Entrepreneur Visa?

The first step is to make an appointment to talk about your options with an experienced immigration lawyer or registered migration agent at Work Visa Lawyers who can go through the details of the 188 visa with you and make sure you are eligible, and that your intellectual property is protected.  If you meet the criteria, the next step is to commence discussions with one of the approved Service Providers (above) as you will need one of these groups to nominate you if you are to receive the Entrepreneur Visa.  If for any reason you do not meet the criteria, Work Visa Lawyers will assess your personal situation and advise what you need to do to qualify, or what alternative visa pathways might be available to you.

Being situated in Adelaide, South Australia, Work Visa Lawyers are uniquely positioned to help you with your South Australian Entrepreneur Visa application, and we would love to help you on your journey.

Australian Business and Significant Investor Visas Subclass 188 Closed - New Visa Expected in 2024! Read more here! 

Author:

Chris Johnston, Founder and Principal Lawyer at Work Visa Lawyers

Disclaimer

While every care is made to ensure this information is correct at the time of publication, it is subject to change without notice.  All information provided on this page is provided for purely educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.  For advice on your personal situation, please speak with an Immigration Lawyer or a Registered Migration Agent.

Sources

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/business-innovation-and-investment-188/entrepreneur-stream

https://migration.sa.gov.au/visa-options/business-and-investment-visas/business-innovation-and-investment-provisional-visa#nav-requirements

https://www.nsw.gov.au/topics/visas-and-migration/business-and-investor/subclass-188e

Investor visas are one of the best ways to get permanent residency in Australia. If you want to move to Australia and you have the means to invest five million Australian dollars, the 188 Significant Investor visa might be ideal for you.

The Business Innovation and Investor 188 visa is the visa for experienced business people or high net-worth individuals. There are four streams of the 188 visa, depending on how much you are able to invest, but the Significant Investor visa is the stream with the most benefits. Here are 10 reasons we think you’ll love the Significant Investor visa.

The Australian Government has announced that they have created a new taskforce, the “Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce”, to bring business and skills to Australia.

This was announced on ABC News, and repeated by Minister Tudge in a tweet this morning (5 September 2020).

The Shepparton news reported that Peter Dutton told Nine News "It's OK that we've got support in place at the moment with JobKeeper and JobSeeker - that's fine and that's a good thing - but to get to the next stage we need to have investment."

Click here to learn the criteria for the Global Talent Visa

Minister Tudge placed heavy emphasis on the benefit of this Taskforce for Australian employment opportunities in his interview with ABC AM earlier this morning. It will combined efforts of:

• AusTrade
• State governments
• The Department of Home Affairs

The AFR has reported that the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce will be led by Peter Verwer, previously the boss of the Property Council of Australia.

A working target for the Government is 1,000 or so such businesses.

Global Business and Talent Attraction: A new pathway to Australian permanent residence?

Along with the new The Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce comes a new webpage.

The main focus of the new Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce appears to be targeting the Moby Dicks of the business world, attracting very large businesses to be the next Atlassian or Canva.

As a whole of Government approach, the target businesses are likely to received prioritised processing and higher service standards than applicants through other pathways.

We expect that the announcement of the Taskforce will lead to an increased focus on the Global Talent Independent visa, as well as continued focus on the business and investment visa programs, such as the 188 visa and 132 visa. The Global Talent Employer Sponsored program is likely to be a key to helping these businesses fill labour needs where Australians are not available to fill the roles.

Expression of Interest for Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce

While the Global Talent Independent visa Expression of Interest is still available, the Government has released a new expression of interest for The Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce. The new expression of interest is more open-ended and does not indicate any strict requirements.

Benefits of the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce

The Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce is intended to provide:

• Faster and easier access to Australian permanent residency
• More hands-on support for (prospective) migrants
• Advice and information to assist with the migration process
• One direct contact who will assist in liaising with several areas of Government to provide a "whole of Government" package

Requirements for the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce

The Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce has indicated it is looking for:

• Top tier business leaders
• Globally talent professionals 

The new taskforce has not indicated any clear requirements.

The expression of interest does not request any income or salary details and does not have a list of target sectors to choose from.

As such, the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce appears to be more open-ended than the Global Talent Independent visa program, which has 7 key target sectors and requires a salary (or potential salary) of AUD $153,600.

For businesses, it has been indicated that there will be a focus on "high yield businesses". We expect that this might include businesses such as:

• Consulting businesses
• Marketing businesses, including digital marketing
• IT and software development businesses
• Corporate and professional services businesses
• Financial businesses

This also indicates that the Department will be less interested in "high capital" businesses, such as manufacturing businesses.

Hong Kong and Global Talent - Where will the centre of Asia Business Be?

The Australian Government in many of its announcements has indicated a strong intention to attract business and talent from Hong Kong to move to Australia.

Hong Kong has been a key hub of business and trade in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Australia seems to be looking to strengthen its position as such as hub in its own right, by attracting key players from Hong Kong to Australia.

Sydney, Australia has been highlighted as one of the top 10 cities for business in Asia Pacific. It is likely that this will continue to be a focal point for businesses looking to set up headquarters in Australia.

Other recent Global Talent visa initiatives

There are a range of recent initiatives already put in place by the Australian Government to attract and retain global talent. These are likely to form a part of the Taskforce’s initiatives to bring business and skills to Australia.

Global Talent Independent Visa

The Global Talent Independent visa is a thriving category which has been seeing more attention in recent months.

Established in November 2019, it has a yearly allocation of 5,000 positions to attract global talent to Australia from the following target sectors:

• AgTech
• Space and Advanced Manufacturing
• FinTech
• Energy and Mining Technology
• MedTech
• Cyber Security
• Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT

This forms a part of the 3 visa products highlighted for global talent attraction.

A recent FOI disclosure indicated that 100% of 38 visa applications for global talent from offshore were approved, and that there were 144 onshore 858 visa approvals out of 162 lodgements. It is not clear exactly what period of the program these statistics relate to.

Global Talent Employer Sponsored

A substantial, but less talked-about program is the Global Talent Employer Sponsored program. This program might support the labour needs of the big businesses which the Australian Government is hoping to attract to Australia with the new Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce.

South Australia pushing for Innovation and Global Talent

South Australia has identified itself in the Australian market as a strong contender for business innovation and headquarters for Hi-Tech developments. There are several programs pushing to develop this further.

Key Growth Sectors for South Australia

South Australia has a number of significant industries which, while many have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue to be important to the growth of South Australia going forward.

These include:

• Tourism
• International education
• Defence industry
• Food, wine and agribusiness
• Hi-Tech
• Health and medical industries
• Energy and mining
• Space industry
• Creative industries

SISA 408 Visa - Supporting Innovation in South Australia

The Supporting Innovation in South Australia stream of the 408 visa is a program specifically designed to encourage innovative businesses operating in South Australia.

It is a temporary visa program for those looking to run businesses in South Australia, with a key focus on the following fields:

• Defense and Space
• Cybersecurity, big data, digital and blockchain
• Food, wine, and ag. Tech
• Health and medical technology
• Robotics
• Media and film

A key benefit of the program is the involvement of innovation hubs and the Chief Entrepreneur.

Lot Fourteen

Lot Fourteen is a business and innovation hub located on North Terrace in the middle of Adelaide CBD, South Australia.

As an innovation hub, Lot Fourteen is home to a range of businesses operating in the growth areas highlighted above. 

A key feature of Lot Fourteen is the Australian Space Agency which opened at Lot Fourteen in February 2020.

Do you need help?

Our team of experienced Immigration Lawyers and Migration Agents look forward to assisting you with your Australian visa or appeal.

Based in Adelaide South Australia, we provide Australian Immigration advice to people and businesses from all over the world.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rebrand to “Move to South Australia - Skilled + Business Migration”

https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/ now has a new look.

We noticed that Immigration South Australia has changed its name to Move to South Australia.

Move to South Australia has updated its criteria for interim 491 and 190 nominations to support and prioritise South Australia’s economic recovery and public health response. 

So, you have decided to invest in Australia. You have a successful business in your country and thinking about starting a business in Australia.
That’s great, you may want to get an Australian Business Visa. The Business Talent (Permanent) Visa Subclass 132 is similar to Subclass 188 – Business Innovation Stream visa and shares a lot of common criteria
with the rest of business skills visas. These visas are great options for the business owners and investors who have had a proven history in successful business ownership and management over an extended period of time.
While you are excited to expand your business and lodge a business visa application you need to avoid making the mistakes that can cause your visa application being refused.
We know a visa refusal can affect your planned visa pathway. Therefore, to assist our clients in having a successful Business Visa application we have done some
research and studied 26 reviewable decisions from The Australian Federal Circuit Court, AAT, and Federal Court. We have Identified 5 Common Mistakes in the visa applications, and how you can avoid them
because we are here to save your Business visa Application.

The top reasons are:
1. PIC 4020 and “Bogus Documents” or “Misleading information”
2. Lack of Ownership in the Nominated Business
3. Insufficient Required Investment Funds
4. Funds Used to Make Investment are Unencumbered and Lawfully Acquired
5. Insufficient Points

1. PIC 4020 and “Bogus Documents” or “misleading information”

This is the Number One mistake that applicants made and as a result their visa application refused.PIC 4020 enables refusal of a visa if an applicant provides a bogus document or information that is false or misleading in relation to their application. 

PIC 4020 requires visa applicants to not give, or cause to give, false or misleading information of a material particular to not just Home Affairs in relation to a visa application, but also to: the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth or a skill assessment authority.

It applies to not only the visa application, but to a visa that an applicant held in the 12 months before the application was made. Should an applicant be refused for failing this PIC for bogus documents or misleading information, they are subject to a 3-year bar (from being granted another visa) for any visa which has this PIC as a criterion.

In most of these cases the question of bogus documents arose about their financial documents such as tax return and the business assets.
On the other hand, there are few cases where the applicant mistakenly provided bogus document or information that is false or misleading.

We agree that the process is one of the most complicated visas, it involves numerous financial reports, evaluation reports, and auditing reports.

The best way to prevent a refusal is to lodge a complete and correct application, and to respond to all requests for further information within timeframes as notified by the Department. Any gaps or inconsistences in information and/or documents provided can result in further scrutiny being applied to your application, and therefore a greater delay and likelihood of your application being refused.

2. Lack of Ownership in the Nominated Business

To demonstrate business experience, the application requires you have experience in owning and actively managing a business in your home country.
Insufficient ownership in the main business is the second reasons for the Department of Home Affair to refuse the business visa application.
In some cases, the applicant did not have the minimum of 30% ownership requirement in the main business.
Even if they had the minimum ownership requirement, it may not have been at least 2 of the 4 fiscal years immediately before the date of invitation to apply for the visa.
To avoid making this mistake in your application make sure you know the requirements and criterial to be eligible for a business visa.

For both the Business Innovation and Investment 188 visa and the 132 Significant Business History Visa, in two of the four fiscal years prior to applying
you must have had an ownership interest in one or more main businesses, which means:

• have maintained direct and continuous management in the business
• have an ownership interest to the total value of at least:
• 51% if the turnover is less than AUD 400 000 or
• 30% if the turnover is AUD 400 000 or more or
• 10% if the business is a publicly listed company
  
  

For the132 Significant Business History Visa there is the additional requirement that: The total net assets of you, your partner, or you and your partner combined, 
must be at least AUD400,000 from the ownership interest in one or more qualifying businesses, gained over at least 2 of the 4 fiscal years immediately before you were invited to apply for this visa.

3. Insufficient Required Investment Funds

You probably think that the applicants in this case did not have required funds and as a result their visa application refused. Well, it’s not as simple as that.
Our research shows the applicants might have enough funds but some could not prove it due to different system of property valuation undertaken in their countries.
For example, in one of the cases the applicant told the Tribunal that in Iran the law provides that only 2% of the total value of the property is required to be recorded on the Title Deeds.
If you live in a country where the system of property valuation is different and as result you cannot prove correct value of your property or assets,
you need to get a legal advice from your lawyer before you lodge an application.

It is critical to remember to support your business visa application you must provide the certificate of title, title deed,
valuation certificate by an accredited property valuer and/or mortgage certificate.
If these certificates cannot show the correct value of your property and assets you cannot have a successful visa application.

4. Funds Used to Make Investment are Unencumbered and Lawfully Acquired

Coming to the fourth reason for Subclass 132 and 188 visa refusal where the Applicants failed to consider the funds being used to make the investment must be unencumbered and lawfully acquired.
Our research shows that the Federal Court and the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the visa application where the source of investment fund is from use of;

• gambling proceeds,
• gifts from unrelated parties, and
• invalid trust

To avoid making this mistake as a business visa applicant you need to make sure that the funds used to finance your designated investment are personally owned and unencumbered and legally accumulated
as a result of your business and/or investment activities. You also need to provide a signed declaration listing the sources of funds for your asset portfolio, and that these funds were lawfully acquired.
Evidence to support your source of funds declaration:

• For business income, provide evidence of business ownership, performance and profit distribution. For example, company registration and shareholder records, financial statements or taxation records
• For investment income, provide evidence of investment activities and performance. For example, statements issued by stocks trading company, property purchase and sale contracts,
  leases or investment product contracts.
• For gifted or inherited assets, provide duly witnessed gift deeds or wills. Also provide other evidence demonstrating how the original owner accumulated the assets
• For a historical accumulation of wealth where official verifiable evidence is no longer available, provide bank records demonstrating continuous ownership of funds over a substantial period.
• For assets held in Australia, provide evidence which links the assets to the declared sources.

Through these investment structures, the investor may hold complying investments in any proportion.
“Eligible investments” for the purposes of the Investor Stream include:

• Ownership interests in a business
• Cash on deposit
• Stocks or bonds
• Real estate
• Gold or bullion
• Loan to a business
  
  

5. Insufficient Points

No matter which visa you wish to apply, points are always important for having a successful application.
The fifth and last common reason for Business Innovation Visa and 188 refusals is not having the required 65 points.

Our research shows that most visa applications were refused because the applicant did not have sufficient points, or did not provide evidence to prove he or she is entitled to more points.

The AAT usually remitted the business visa applications where the applicants provided further documents such as university qualifications or English language ability to receive the required points.

To avoid such an issue with your application, you need to know what the required points are for subclass 132 and 188. As an applicant you need to make sure that you have all the necessary documents to prove your points at the time you make a business visa application.

Well what are the minimum required points for subclass 132 and 188 are 65 points? The factors that can affect your points are:

• Age
• English language ability
• Educational qualifications
• Financial assets
• Business turnover
• Investor experience
• Special endorsement 

The link below will show you how much points you can have for the above factors.
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/business-innovation-and-investment-188/points-table

We hope you have found our research of case decisions over the past four years helpful.
And when it comes to considering a Business Visa Application, you keep in mind that bogus documents, lack of ownership in the nominated business,
insufficient required investment funds, funds used to make investment are unencumbered and lawfully acquired and insufficient points
are the most common reasons for Business Visa application refusals. Remembering these pitfalls when preparing your application will put you in the best position for Visa success.

Do you need help with an Australian visa application? At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Partner Visas, Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:
(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Other Useful Blogs and Videos on 132 Visa and 188 Visas

 Introducing Business Visa Compare
8 Things you need to know about Business Migration for Australia (132, 188 & 888 visa)
Video – Your Guide to the Australian Business Talent 132 visa. Straight to Permanent Residency – PR Visa!

List of Cases Reviewed between 2019 – 2015

Akhavannejad (Migration) [2019] AATA 2223 (14 February 2019)
Zhang (Migration) [2019] AATA 1009 (10 January 2019)
Surya (Migration) [2017] AATA 976 (16 June 2017)
SADEGHIAN (Migration) [2019] AATA 3012
Kukadia (Migration) [2019] AATA 4527 (14 August 2019)
HOSSEINIANJEDANI (Migration) [2019] AATA 3511 (17 June 2019)
HOSSEINIANJEDANI (Migration) [2019] AATA 3511 (17 June 2019)
WU (Migration) [2018] AATA 1092 (9 March 2018)
Guo (Migration) [2019] AATA 487 (14 March 2019)
Lovely (Migration) [2019] AATA 5318 (28 November 2019)
Wong & Ors v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2018] FCCA 3490 (29 November 2018)
Chen & Ors v Minister for Immigration [2015] FCCA 1018 (22 April 2015)
Momtaz v Minister for Immigration [2019] FCCA 520 (7 March 2019)
Xie & Anor v Minister for Home Affairs [2019] FCCA 266 (7 February 2019)
Han v Minister for Immigration [2019] FCCA 3558 (11 December 2019)
Zhang v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2017] FCCA 134 (30 January 2017)
Smith (Migration) [2019] AATA 4939
Cai (Migration) [2017] AATA 416 (9 March 2017)
Ding & Ors v Minister for Immigration [2019] FCCA 160
Zhang (Migration) [2017] AATA 1662 (5 September 2017)
1404069 [2015] MRTA 781 (19 May 2015)
1408380 [2015] MRTA 459 (24 March 2015)
1413159 [2015] MRTA 537 (8 April 2015)
W0600780 [2007] MRTA 480 (7 September 2007)
1508766 (Migration) [2016] AATA 3715 (11 April 2016)
HOSSEINIANJEDANI (Migration) [2019] AATA 3511
Kukadia (Migration) [2019] AATA 4527 (14 August 2019)
Momtaz v Minister for Immigration [2019] FCCA 520 (7 March 2019)
Zhang v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2017] FCCA 134 (30 January 2017)
HOSSEINIANJEDANI (Migration) [2019] AATA 3511
HOSSEINIANJEDANI (Migration) [2019] AATA 3511
Zhang (Migration) [2019] AATA 1009 (10 January 2019)
Zhang v Buljan [2016] FCCA 2426 (15 September 2016)
Cai (Migration) [2017] AATA 416 (9 March 2017)

Click here to view the full table of case decisions.
This information is accurate on 9th January 2020.

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Australian Immigration News Video May 2018 - SAF, TSS 482, Regional Visas