State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner Provisional Visa

The State/Territory Sponsored Business Provisional Visa is designed for successful business owner with a genuine interest in establishing and managing a business in Australia.

As a Business owner, this visa will let you:

• establish a new or existing business in Australia;
• travel within and outside 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.

Duration

The initial four year provisional Australian business visa subclass can lead to Australian permanent residence. You may be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa after holding this visa for a minimum of two (2) years.

Eligibility Criteria

There are several qualifying criteria for this visa subclass.

Age

The applicant must be under the age of 55 at the time of lodging an Australian visa application.

An exception is given when the business is endorsed as being of exceptional economic benefit to the State/Territory by the sponsoring Government.

Sponsorship

The applicant needs to be sponsored by an appropriate regional authority of a State or Territory Government in Australia.

English

The visa applicant are not required to satisfy a vocational level of English, however, any applicant aged 18 years or more at the time of application who is assessed as not having ‘functional English’ must pay the second installment of the Visa Application Charge.

Business Experience

The following requirement needs to be satisfied by visa applicants:

• Must have had a successful business career,
• Must have personal and business net assets of at least AUD$ 250,000, which can be transferred to Australia within 2 years;
• For at least 2 out of the last 4 fiscal years before applying, the applicant must have had an ownership interest of at least 10% in a main business or businesses outside Australia with an annual turnover of at least AUD$ 300,000; OR
• The applicant must have a sound employment record as a senior manager.

A Senior Manager is defined as a person who:

• Has appropriate formal qualifications, acquired after at least 3 years full time study (or part time equivalent) or;
• Has a least 5 years appropriate experience and has been employed for at least 3 years in the kind of employment to which the qualifications or experience mentioned above relate to and;
• Has a sound and continuous employment record for at least 3 of the 5 years immediately before the application is made.
  Make decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of the activities of the business is to be managed, such as:
  Take responsibility for the day to day running of the business or part of the business;
  If appropriate to the structure of the business, have management responsibilities over other functional managers.
• Has to get registered or licensed if this is required by Australian law;

Additional Information

It is necessary to get approval from the state in which the Australian business visa applicant intends to settle before an application for permanent residence can be submitted. This may require the business owner visa applicant to submit a business plan document and evidence of research and supporting documentation to the relevant State Business Unit. The business plan will need to contain relevant local business market knowledge and accurate financial forecasts.

Health & Character

Australia has strict health and character requirements. The same has to be met before grant of visa. People attempting to migrate to Australia on an Australian business visa will be required to:

• Undergo a medical examination and chest x-ray undertaken by one of a panel of doctors selected by the Australian authorities, and;
• Obtain police certificates for all countries in which they have lived for more than 12 months in the 10 years leading up to the application.

Processing Times

The current processing time for migration to Australia on a business owner visa is 9-12 months, from the start of the process.