The 188 Significant Investor Visa – a golden ticket to Australia

The 188 Significant Investor Visa – a golden ticket to Australia

 

The Age newspaper has recently reported that the number of residency visas granted to wealthy foreigners willing to invest at least $5 million on complying investment in Australia has surged fivefold in the past 12 months.   

 

If visa holders maintain their investment for four years and live in Australia for 160 days during that four year period, they will be eligible for permanent residency.

 

It eyes on affluent foreigners who are able to demonstrate lawful acquisition of at least $5 million.   According to the Immigration Department statistics, so far 651 visas have been issued, of which 371 went to applicants sponsored by the Victoria State Government and 213 to applicants sponsored by the New South Wales State Government.  Interestingly, 89.1 per cent of successful applicants are from China.

 

The Federal Government flagged some changes to the Significant Investor Visa to be introduced in July 2015.  The changes include:

 

• the involvement of Austrade in the nomination of applicants on behalf of the Australian Government and in determining complying investment policy;
   
• allowing 'role swapping' between primary and secondary applicants during the provisional visa stage​;
   
• introduction of 180 day residency requirements for secondary visa holders​; and

 

• changes to improve visa processing times.

 

The government has indicated that the changes will be made progressively through the 2014-15 programme year, with changes requiring legislative amendment expected to come into effect from 1 July 2015.

 

The government has also indicated that these changes will not apply to current SIV holders or current applications.