Investor stream

• stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program, if eligible
• enrol in Australia's public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for 5 years
• if eligible, become an Australian citizen.

Newly arrived residents may need to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits.

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia permanently.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:

• we grant the visa, if you are in Australia
• you first enter Australia on this visa, if you are outside Australia when we grant this visa

You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add members of the family unit to your application at any time before we decide on your application.

Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements.

Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health and character requirements.

From AUD4,375.00 for the main applicant (concessions apply in limited circumstances).

There is also a charge for each family member who applies for the visa with you.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English. This charge is the second instalment charge. Pay it only when we ask you to. We ask for the charge only if we are going to grant the visa.

The second instalment charge is AUD4,890.

You only need to pay it for family members who did not pay the second instalment charge for their Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa.

To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not take into account the second instalment or other costs. You might also have to pay other costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.

Cost concession for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste visa applicants

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid visa application.

We will charge eligible applicants the lower visa application cost during the application process in ImmiAccount. We will recognise eligible applicants by the valid passport from the specified countries used in the application when they apply.

Family members are also eligible for the lower visa cost. We base this on the passport of the primary applicant (or visa holder who satisfies the primary visa criteria).

The primary applicant must hold a valid passport issued by one of the following countries:

• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Republic of the Marshall Islands
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we decide on your application, but not in immigration clearance.

For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.

Your application may take longer to process if:

• you do not fill it in correctly
• you do not include all the documents we need or we need more information from you
• it takes us time to verify your information

We cannot process your application if you do not pay the correct visa application charge. We will notify you if this is the case and if necessary return your application.

You and your family members must obey all Australian laws.

If you are outside Australia when we grant the visa:

• you and your family members must enter Australia by a certain date (we will tell you when this is)
• any family members included in your application might not be able to marry or enter into a de facto relationship before they enter Australia (we will tell you if this is the case)

Travel to and from Australia for 5 years

You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant this visa. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.

If you want to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:

• you will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (RRV) so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident
• you might also want to consider Australian citizenship. If you become an Australian citizen, you don't require a visa to enter Australia. You will need to apply for an Australian passport and use it to leave and re-enter Australia. See more about eligibility requirements and current processing times for Australian citizenship

To see when your travel facility ends, use VEVO.

If you leave Australia after the expiry date of your travel facility, without being granted another permanent visa with a valid travel facility, for example a RRV, you will not be able to return to Australia as a permanent resident.

To see when your travel condition ends, use VEVO.

Australian visas are digital.

We do not put a visa label in your passport. Instead, we link your digital visa record to your passport.

You must be the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream.
If you were invited to apply for this visa on or after 1 July 2021, you must have held this visa for at least 3 years.

You can also apply if you are the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) and your spouse or de facto partner is the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream. If your spouse or de facto partner who is the primary visa holder was invited to apply for their original Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) on or after 1 July 2021, you must have held your visa for at least 3 years.

COVID-19 concessions

Arrangements were in place for provisional visa holders who may have been disadvantaged as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 1 February 2020 until 3 months after the end of the concession period, you were able to apply for this visa if you:

• held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Investor stream which expired during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’; or
• were the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) and:
  • your visa expired during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’; and
  • your spouse or de facto partner was the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream.

For more information on the concession period, visit COVID-19 concession period.

If you were invited to apply for a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream on or after 1 July 2021, when we granted your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa, you would have invested AUD2.5 million in a ‘complying significant investment’.

To be granted a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888), you (or you and your spouse or de facto partner combined) must:

• for the whole period during which you held your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188), have held a ‘complying significant investment’
• tell us of any times you transferred funds from one investment to another.

If you were invited to apply for a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream before 1 July 2021, when your visa was granted, you invested AUD1.5 million in an Australian state or territory. We call this a 'designated investment'.

You must have held your designated investment for at least:

• 4 years if the provisional visa was granted on the basis of an application made on or after 1 July 2015; or
• 3 years and 11 months if the provisional visa was granted on the basis of an application made before 1 July 2015.

Your designated investment must have been held continuously in your name, or in the names of yourself and your spouse or de facto partner together.

COVID-19 concessions

Arrangements are in place for provisional visa holders who may have been disadvantaged as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You will continue to meet designated investment requirements if:

• you first withdrew funds from, or cancelled your designated investment during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’; and
• you were physically resident in Australia for at least 2 years immediately before this occurred; and
• your designated investment had been held continuously in your name, or in the names of yourself and your spouse or de facto partner together during that time; and
• you did not withdraw funds from, or cancel your designated investment other than during the ‘COVID-19 concession period’.
• You must also hold or have held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) that was granted on or before 30 June 2019.

Unless COVID-19 concessions apply, you must have been physically present in Australia for at least 2 of the 4 years immediately before you apply if you are the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Investor stream and you were invited to apply before 1 July 2021.

You must have been physically present in Australia for at least 2 years in the 3 years immediately before you apply if you are holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) Investor stream and you were invited to apply on or after 1 July 2021.

Unless Covid-19 concessions apply, if you applied for this visa and are the secondary visa holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) and your spouse or de facto partner is the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream you must have been physically present in Australia for at least:

• 2 years in the 3 years immediately before you apply if your spouse or de facto partner who is the primary visa holder was invited to apply for their original Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) on or after 1 July 2021
• 2 years in the 4 years immediately before you apply if your spouse or de facto partner who is the primary visa holder was invited to apply for their original Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) before 1 July 2021

COVID-19 concessions

Arrangements are in place for provisional visa holders who may have been disadvantaged as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You must have been in Australia for a least 2 of the 4 years immediately before you apply. During the ‘COVID-19 concession period’, time spent overseas will count as time being in Australia if you were the holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream.

You can apply for this visa if you applied from 1 February 2020 until 3 months after the end of the ‘COVID-19 concession period’ and you:

• held a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream which expired during the concession period or
• your visa expired during the concession period and your spouse or de facto partner was the primary holder of a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream

Your first visa in the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream must have been granted on or before 30 June 2019.

You and your spouse or de facto partner must not have been involved in any business or investment activities that are unacceptable in Australia.

You must have a realistic commitment to continuing your business or investment activities in Australia.

If you operated a business in Australia, you and your partner must have followed:

• Commonwealth laws
• the laws of the states or territories where your business operated

This includes laws about taxation, superannuation and workplace relations.

All applicants aged 18 or over at time of application, who did not pay a second instalment of the visa application charge for a previous subclass 188 visa application must have functional English . If you cannot show evidence of functional English, we will ask you to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge.

They will not need to pay a second instalment if they have already paid a second instalment of the visa application charge in relation to an application for a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa.

Do not make a second instalment payment until we ask you to.

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet our health requirement.

Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years or over who apply for the visa with you must meet our character requirement.

Family members who are not coming to Australia must also meet our character requirement.

If you and your family members who have applied for the visa are 18 years of age or older at the time when the application is decided, you and your family members must:

• have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia book and
• sign an Australian Values Statement that confirms you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws

If you or any family members owe the Australian Government money, you or they must have paid it back or have an approved arrangement in place to pay it back.

We will consider your immigration history when we make a decision on your application, which means you might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused.

In some circumstances you may still apply for a permanent visa if you have had a visa cancelled or an application refused see Limitations on applications in Australia.

If applying for a visa from outside Australia see Can I go to Australia.

If you want immigration assistance, see Who can help with your visa application.

Before you leave

Check your travel documents

You must have:

• a valid visa to enter Australia
• a valid passport or other travel document

At the border

Completing an Incoming Passenger Card

All people arriving Australia must complete the Incoming Passenger Card. You will be given this card onboard the aircraft.

Leaving the airport faster

We have an automated process that uses facial recognition technology and your ePassport. You might be able to leave the airport faster if you use SmartGate.

What you can do when you have this visa

• stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Australia's public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for 5 years
• apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

What you must do on this visa

You and your family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws.

We expect you to continue to undertake business and investment activities in Australia, following the intentions you outlined in your application.

Tell us if things change

Things you need to let us know about include:

• changes to your phone number, email, address or passport
• changes to your relationship status
• the birth of a child

See how to tell us if there is a change in your situation.

See how long you can stay

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia permanently.

Travel to and from Australia for 5 years

You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant this visa. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.

If you want to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:

• you will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident
• you might also want to consider Australian citizenship. If you become an Australian citizen, you don't require a visa to enter Australia. You will need to apply for an Australian passport and use it to leave and re-enter Australia. See more about eligibility requirements and current processing times for Australian citizenship

To see when your travel facility ends, use VEVO.

Proving you have a visa

To prove you have a visa and show your conditions to someone, use VEVO.

Request your international movement records to get proof of your travel in and out of Australia.

Bringing family

You can't add a family member to your application after we have granted the visa.

If a member of your family wants to join you later in Australia, they must apply for a separate visa that suits their situation. See their visa options.

Becoming an Australian citizen

After a certain time, you might be eligible for Australian citizenship. Find out more about becoming a citizen.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:

• we grant the visa, if you were in Australia
• you first entered Australia on this visa, if you were outside Australia when we granted it

Before you leave

Check your travel documents

You must have a valid passport or other travel document to leave Australia.

Ensure your visa is still valid.

Check your conditions and the expiry of your Resident Return visa in VEVO.

See what to do if your visa has expired or is about to expire.

At the border

Leaving the airport faster
We have an automated process that uses facial recognition technology and your ePassport. You might be able to leave the airport faster if you use SmartGate.

After you leave

Proving you have been to Australia

Request your international movement records to get proof of your travel in and out of Australia.