No English test required, no skills assessment, no restrictions on field of study! The must-consider investment migration pathway for international students and SME owners!
the lower-investment, lower-asset-requirement option —
[Business and Investor Migration – 188A]
As Australia has tightened its migration policy in recent years,
the requirements for business migration have kept climbing,
so it really is true:
‘apply early, migrate early’
Today, Will is here to walk you through
business migration 188
Wishing all you legends
an early PR grant
Don’t forget to save and share this~
Investment migration? Small business? What’s the difference?
Friends who follow Newstars news will definitely have noticed: right now, one of the hottest migration pathways in Australia is state nomination — small business migration. The most favourable small business migration policies are concentrated in Queensland and Canberra, drawing plenty of clients in to consult us.
But,state-nominated small business 491/190 is still a skilled migration pathway after all, so a skills assessment and a certain level of English are still required — and the bar isn’t low, either!
This creates real difficulty for some clients who do have the budget. We often get client enquiries asking:
““I have enough budget on hand, and I’ve got business experience from before…but I just don’t have an Australian skills assessment, and my English isn’t up to scratch either. How can I go down the small business route?”
Whenever a client is struggling with the small business requirements, all I want to say is:please, do consider business and investor migration!
Business and Investor Migration New Financial Year Changes
First off, congratulations to all our clients who were granted their visas before July! From 1 July this year, Australia’s business and investor migration program has been overhauled across the board. Overall: 1) multiple visa categories have been simplified and consolidated; 2) the former Subclass 132 visa, which granted PR in one step, has been abolished.
After the consolidation, all investment migration now falls under the 188 category, in the following 4 streams:
188A – Business Innovation Stream
188B – Investor Stream
188C – Significant Investor Stream
188E – Entrepreneur Stream
Compared with the previous thresholds, the requirements for these 4 existing 188 visa streams have also risen accordingly:The Subclass 188 visa runs for 5 years. Once you’re granted the initial 188, you invest in your nominating state for 3 years, and once the relevant requirements are met, you can formally convert to PR.
Latest requirements for each 188 stream
The state nomination requirements haven’t been fully released yet — here’s where things stand:
Queensland
Detailed investment requirements were planned for release at the end of July, but a delay has just been announced — requirements and applications are now expected to open in August
NSW
Currently closed — detailed requirements yet to be released
South Australia
In line with the Department of Home Affairs’ requirements,with priority given to certain investment sectors,for example, for 188A nominations, pure import businesses or property development need to make a greater contribution
Victoria
188A – In addition to the Department of Home Affairs’ requirements, an equivalent of IELTS 5.0 across all 4 bands is also required, along with a STEMM or MBA qualification, or business experience in a specific industry.
188B – Requires a points score of 95 or above, with AU$1.5 million of the investment going into a Victorian bond, plus an additional AU$500,000 into a Victorian venture capital fund
Canberra
188A – Invest at least AU$200,000 in Canberra to start a new business or buy an existing one
188B – Not participating
188C – AU$5 million must be invested in a project that makes an economic contribution to Canberra
Western Australia
Currently closed — detailed requirements yet to be released
New financial year — a complete breakdown of Australian investment migration
This Wednesday, 4 August — Star Lecture Hall
Our senior consultants will explain everything in detail!
– Latest requirements for each 188 investment migration stream
– Investment threshold requirements by state
– How to approach the lowest-requirement 188A
– How international students can meet the business-operation requirements while studying
Want to join the group to listen in?
Press and hold the QR code below and add the note: Investment
If you’re still not familiar with the lower-cost investment migration option, 188A,
read on below
For SME owners based in China,how to pursue 188A!
#
# Of the 4 investment migration streams above, 188A is the most common.188A has a smaller investment amount, lower asset requirements, and a lower threshold —the key is having at least two years of overall successful business experience.
188A suits most SME owners based in China.If you own a business in China with annual turnover of RMB 3.75 million, hold a shareholding of 30% or more, and you (or you and your spouse together) have net assets of RMB 6.25 million — including property (net of loans), shares, savings and so on — then you can consider this migration pathway.
An overseas applicant’s successful 188A application
Mr Chen had been running an import-export company in China for 5 years, with annual exports exceeding US$10 million. He and his wife owned property with no mortgage, and being an export business earned extra points. Along the way there was one round of supplementary documents requested, but after back-and-forth communication between us and the case officer, the materials were confirmed correct and the visa was granted just a week later! During the pandemic, Subclass 188 holders were among the few groups exempt from entry restrictions! Mr Chen and his family of four were able to settle in Australia, study, and run a business!
For those with an international student background,how to approach 188A!
# As skilled migration has become harder in recent years, 188A has also become a migration option for some international students who want to start a business and already have a certain foundation in place
# It’s not that complicated to put into practice, either — and it even comes with some special advantages.Run a local business in Australia while studying — a restaurant, convenience store, import-export company and so on — operating it for two years on a student visa (working up to 20 hours a week, which doesn’t breach student visa conditions), plus meeting the annual turnover and shareholding requirements each year, plus purchasing assets outright.
If the requirements are comfortably met, you may satisfy the 188A criteria by the time you graduate, and be able to lodge your state government nomination and visa application!
If your student visa time isn’t enough, you can absolutely continue operating the business on a Subclass 485 work visa to meet the requirements — there’s no work-hour limit during the work visa period.
An international student entrepreneur who completed 188A
While studying, Student Lin set up a real estate agency and applied for 188A based on that business background. With both assets and turnover exceeding the requirements, the key issue was proving that the work-rights restrictions during their studies still allowed for full-time day-to-day business management. After we argued the case strongly on their behalf, we ultimately got them onto the last-chance Queensland 188A intake of the previous financial year. The international-student entrepreneur migration plan has been a program we’ve promoted for years, and over three years we’ve successfully secured 188A for numerous overseas international student entrepreneurs.
Compared with the small business pathway, some advantages of investment migration stand out:
1. You can start before you graduate
2. No skills assessment needed, and no restrictions on your field of study
3. No need to spend time and energy sitting English tests
So!!! 188A investment migration is a pathway you can start working towards while you’re still studying!
For questions about Australia’s business and investor migration requirements,
or planning your entrepreneur migration pathway while studying,
get in touch with consultant Will!
Study and migration — practical short videos
A look back at our past highlights
Click the image to view
NSW 190 sees the return of hot occupations across accounting, engineering and IT — nearly 100 occupations now open! Are regional 491 rules easing?
Recommending this occupation — high hourly pay, plenty of job opportunities, and in high demand right across Australia!
This visa gives you an extra year of nominated-occupation work experience! Decoding its clever use for ACT/NSW state nomination
NSW 190 occupation list opens up wide — is a skills assessment now all you need for interstate 491?! VIC to send invitations in early August!
Migration news and Q&A group
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Reply in the WeChat accountwith any of the numbers below or any keyword (not in the comments at the bottom of the article),to get the most timely and professional migration updates!Reply 【A】 to view the index (covering all key topics)!
Reply:0000 → View the 16 November policy update (491 + skilled migration points)
Reply: 000 → Latest visa/citizenship processing wait times
Reply: 001 → Latest official 189 EOI bulletin
Reply: 002 → 189 skilled independent migration
Reply: 003 → 190 state nomination by state
Reply: 004 → 489 regional state nomination
Reply: 005 → International student entrepreneur investment migration
Reply: 006 → Parent migration visas
Reply: 007 → Employer-sponsored visas
Reply: 008 → Subclass 485 visa
Reply: 009 → Partner migration / bonus points
Reply: 010 → Work experience points
Reply: 011 → PY points
Reply: 012 → NAATI/CCL points
Reply: 013 → Regional area points
Reply: 014 → Visitor/family visit visa
Reply: 015 → Working holiday visa
Reply: 016 → Studying at TAFE
Reply: 017 → Canada migration for Australian international students
Reply: 018 → Subclass 407 training visa
Reply: 019 → Subclass 408 temporary activity visa
Reply: 020 → New Zealand migration
How does the most common investment migration pathway convert to PR?Click “Original link”,and in five minutes we’ll walk you through converting 188A to 888A!
