Australia is making key changes to Business & Investor visas (BIIP)

The Australian Government is making some vital changes in business and investor visas of Australia to enhance their economic benefits for the country. The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) of Australia will be simplified from nine to four key streams and there will be changes to eligibility requirements as well. These changes will take affect from July 1, 2021.

Mr. Alan Tudge- the acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs has confirmed that the changes would drive investment in key sectors and create jobs in the country.

Changes to Business and Investor visas

Speaking about the new changes to Business and Investor visas, Mr. Tudge said, "Almost $1.3 billion dollars was invested through the Business Innovation and Investment Program last year, investment that is critical to our COVID-19 economic recovery,"

He further added, "These changes will maximise the economic contribution of these high value investors to get the best possible outcome for Australians. "Our Migration Program for 2020-21 is clearly focussed on job creators, those with key skills and migrants who are going to invest in Australia's future."

As per the annual Immigration target of Australia, the number of places available in the BIIP has increased to double, i.e. from 6,862 in 2019-20 to 13,500 places for the program year 2020-2021. The new changes are based on the feedback received from stakeholders as part of the DHA's review into the BIIP that finished in February 2020.

Key changes to BIIP applicable from 1 July 2021

Find below the key changes to Business and Investor visas applicable from July 1, 2021:

• The program will be simplified from nine to 4 visa streams, i.e. Business Innovation, Entrepreneur, Investor, and Significant Investor. There will be a dedicated pathway to PR Visa for each category.
• From 1 July 2021, few existing visas will be closed for new applications, i.e. Premium Investor, Significant Business History and Venture Capital Entrepreneur visas. However, already submitted applications for these visas will still be processed.
• Provisional visa holders in all four streams will be able to apply for PR visa provided they fulfil the requirements after 3 years; however, the provisional visa will now be valid for 5 years, which means, now they have extra time to fulfil the requirements.
• Business Innovation and Significant Investor visa holders will also continue to be able to extend their provisional visas provided they do not fulfil the business and residence thresholds in the given timeframe.
  • Business Innovation provisional visa holders can apply for a 2-year extension if they show a genuine commitment to continuing to manage a business that has been actively operational in Australia for the past 2 years.
  • Significant Investor provisional visa holders can apply for two, two-year extensions if they continue to sustain their complying significant investment.
• The requirements for Business Innovation visa holders will be raised to make certain that the program is luring migrants with proven business skills. Business Innovation visa holders will be required to hold business assets of $1.25 million (up from $800,000) and have an annual turnover of $750,000 (up from $500,000) to substantiate their business insight. These rules have not changed since the program was first introduced back in 2012.
• The $200,000 funding threshold needed for Entrepreneur visa applicants will be scrapped. The candidates require to be endorsed by a State or Territory government. This follows the successful Supporting Innovation in South Australia pilot program; moreover, it will give states and territories an extra way to lure global entrepreneurs.
• The federal Government of Australia will also be consulting extensively with industry to inform any further changes to the Complying Investment Framework. Any changes to the framework will be announced in the early half of 2021, with adequate time for businesses and investors to adjust.

To know further clarification and details about Australia's latest immigration rules or to apply PR visa, skilled visa, study visa, family sponsored visa, etc. in Australia in 2021, you may get in touch with Visas Avenue- the leading and trusted Immigration Advisor and Consultant for Australia.

You may call our Australia Migration expert on Toll-Free No. 78-18-000-777 or you may send us an e-mail at info@visasavenue.com.

- Rajneesh Kumar