Opportunities for Permanent Residency

Business Owner & Senior Executive (Provisional) Subclasses

It is a requirement of these visas that you obtain an ownership interest in a business in Australia for 2 years. If you do not do this, you may not be eligible to apply for a Business Skills (Residence) visa and you may have to leave Australia.

If you are unable to get into business in Australia, and cannot qualify for a Business Skills (Residence) visa, your family members will not be able to remain in Australia, unless they are able to qualify for another type of visa.

However, if you apply for a Business Owner (Residence) visa, one of the criteria requires you to have been physically present in Australia as the holder of a Business Skills (Provisional) visa for at least 12 months during the two years immediately prior to lodging your application.

Furthermore, you must have maintained a direct and continuous involvement with the day-to-day management of your business for at least 2 years prior to your application. Unless you were living in Australia during this time, it would be difficult for you to meet this requirement. If you are seeking to qualify for an Investor (Residence) visa, one of the criteria requires you to have been physically present in Australia for at least 24 months during the four years immediately prior to lodging your application.

To meet the criteria for a Business Skills (Residence) visa, however, you must have obtained an ownership interest in a business and have maintained a direct and continuous involvement with the day-to-day management of that business in Australia for a least 2 years prior to your application.

Therefore, it is unlikely that you would be able to apply for a Business Skills (Residence) within the first 2 years of your stay in Australia.

Investor (Provisional) Subclass

If you hold an Investor (Provisional) visa, you will be eligible to apply for a Business Skills (Residence) visa once your have maintained your investment in Australia for 4 years.

Therefore, you will not eligible for the grant of a Business Skills (Residence) visa until 4 years after your investment was made.

You should be aware that if you attempt to lodge your application for a Business Skills (Residence) visa at an earlier date, your application may be refused as you have not maintained your investment for the full 4 years.

General Issues

If a family member also holds a Business Skills (Provisional) visa when your application for Business Skills (Residence) visa is lodged and that family member is included in your application for permanent residence, a new assessment of their dependency will not be made.

If your family member was not the holder of a Business Skills (Provisional) visa when your application for the Business Skills (Residence) is lodged, but is included in your application for permanent residence, an assessment of their dependency will be made.