 BUSINESS OWNERS
Business Owner
This visa is for people who have a successful business career, and have a genuine and realistic commitment to be involved as an owner in a new or existing business in Australia. This visa is also the first step towards being granted a permanent Business Skills visa.
Who is this visa for?
This visa is for business owners from overseas who intend to own a business in Australia, and are less than 45 years of age.
What does this visa let me do?
With this visa you can:
- establish a new or existing business in Australia
- travel in and out of Australia any number of times as long as the visa is valid
- have your family accompany you to Australia. They will have access to work and study rights
- establish a pathway to permanent residence.
How this Visa Works
This visa is a temporary visa, and the first step towards being granted a permanent Business Skills visa. You must be outside Australia when this visa is granted, unless you held a student visa at the time you applied.
You may be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa after holding this visa for a minimum of two (2) years. To be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa you must meet all the obligations of this visa and additional requirements of the permanent Business Skills visa you apply for. Meeting these requirements may take you longer than two (2) years.
After two (2) years you may be eligible to apply for one of the following visas:
- Business Owner (residence)
or
- State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner (residence)
Visa validity period
This visa is valid for four years.
If the visa is granted while you are:
- in Australia (Student visa holders only), it is valid from the date of grant
- outside Australia, it is valid from the entry expiry date on your visa label.
Bringing family
The following people may be included in your application:
- your partner
- your or your partner's dependent children
- other dependent relatives living with you.
With this visa you are unable to access Medicare, the Australian Government medical expenses and hospital care scheme.
Family assistance
With this visa you are unable to access family assistance.
Social security
With this visa you are unable to access social security payments.
Business Owner (provisional) visa definitions
Definitions are available to help you understand the information on these pages.
Eligibility
These pages provide information about the requirements that must be met to support a visa application.
- Main Applicant
- Family Member
Main Applicant Eligibility
You must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this visa. You must provide evidence of each of the requirements with your application.
Age
You must be less than 45 years old.
State/Territory notification
You have notified the appropriate regional authority of a state or territory of your intention to develop a business in that State or Territory.
English level
You must have a vocational level of English. To show this you must you have one the following:
- have evidence you are a native English speaker
- undertake the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). You need to take the general training test, and must achieve a band score of at least five from a maximum of nine, for all four components of the test; speaking, reading, listening and writing. (Your IELTS test results may not be more than 12 months old when you apply)
hold a NAATI accreditation in English.
- Business assets
You (and your partner combined) had net assets in a qualifying business of AUD200,000 for at least two of the four fiscal years immediately before you apply, and If the business was a publicly listed company, you (and your partner combined) must have owned at least 10% of the business for at least two of the four fiscal years immediately before you apply.
The annual turnover of your main business (or two main businesses combined) was at least AUD500,000 in at least two of the four fiscal years immediately before you apply.
Total assets
Your (and your partner's) total assets have a net value of at least AUD500,000, and were legally acquired and are capable of being transferred to Australia within two years of being granted this visa.
You have sufficient assets (additional to those above) of at least AUD100,000 to settle in Australia.
Business career
You have an overall successful business career.
You have not been engaged in a business where the provision of professional, technical, or trade services took up more than half your time.
You and your partner have never been involved in unacceptable business activities.
Your intended involvement in business in Australia
You have a commitment to maintain an ownership interest in a business in Australia and direct and continuous involvement in the management of that business.
There is a need for you to live in Australia on a temporary basis to conduct or establish the proposed business activity.
Health requirement
You must meet health requirements to enter Australia.
Character requirement
You must be of good character to enter Australia.
Australian Values Statement
If you are aged 18 years or over, you are required to sign an Australian values statement. The statement is included in your visa application form and all applicants aged 18 years and over will need to sign it to confirm that they will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws. Before signing this statement you are required to have read, or had explained to you, material made available by the government on life in Australia which is contained in the Life in Australia book.
The Life in Australia book provides more information on the values that Australians share and their way of life.
Eligible family members
Your family members must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this visa. Evidence of each of the requirements with your application.
You can include the following people in the application for this visa.
- your partner
- your or your partner's dependent children
- other dependent relatives living with you.
Adding family to your application
If your child is born after you lodge your application (but before a decision has been made) the child can be added to your application, once you notify the department of the details of the newborn child.
A partner can not be added to a visa application after it has been lodged but may submit a separate application.
A child born in Australia is deemed to have the same visa as their parents.
Members of the family unit, including a baby born overseas, may submit subsequent applications to join a visa holder in Australia.
Health requirement
All family members must meet health requirements to enter Australia.
Character requirement
All family members must be of good character to enter Australia.
Australian Values Statement
All visa applicants aged 18 years or over, are required to sign an Australian values statement. The statement is included in the visa application form and all applicants aged 18 years and over will need to sign it. Before signing the statement, applicants for this visa are required to have read, or had explained to them, material made available by the government on life in Australia which is contained in the Life in Australia book.
The Life in Australia book provides more information on the values that Australians share and their way of life.
Obligations
As a Business Owner (Provisional) visa holder you are expected to provide valuable input to the Australian economy. You must obtain a substantial ownership interest in a business in Australia. In that business you must actively participate in the day-to-day management of that business at a senior level, and continue to make genuine efforts to hold a substantial ownership interest at a senior level in the day-to-day management of such a business.
In your business you must also do at least one of the following:
- develop business links with international markets
- create or maintain employment in Australia
- export Australian goods
- produce goods or services that would otherwise be imported
- introduce new or improved technology
- add to commercial activity and competitiveness within sectors of the Australian economy
You may be asked to complete a monitoring survey to provide us with information about your business activities in Australia.
Visa conditions
- You must not marry before you enter Australia
- You must enter Australia before anyone else included in your visa application
Note: This means your family members cannot enter Australia before you.
Change in circumstances
If your circumstances change, you must inform the department (in writing) as soon as possible.
Applying for a permanent Business Skills visa
You may be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa after holding this visa for a minimum of two (2) years. To be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa you must meet all the obligations of this visa and additional requirements of the permanent Business Skills visa you apply for. Meeting these requirements may take you longer than two (2) years.
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