You can apply for permanent migration with this visa if you are a holder of the provisional Business and Innovation (188) Visa in Australia and have met the immigration requirements prescribed.

Your eligibility to apply for the Permanent Business Visa (888 visa) is determined by the temporary visa stream you used under the Subclass 188 program.

Eligibility – Business innovation stream

​You must have been in Australia and held:

• a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) in the Business Innovation stream or the Business Innovation Extension stream
• a Special Category visa (subclass 444)

for at least one year in the two years immediately before you apply.

In addition, you must be able to show ongoing business involvement, meet certain financial requirements and have a history of employing Australian workers.

Eligibility – Investor stream

​If you are applying for this visa in the Investor stream you must have been in Australia and held your provisional visa in the Investor stream for at least two of the four years immediately before you apply.

In addition, you (or you and your partner combined) must have held a designated investment with an Australian state or territory for at least four years.

If you applied for your provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Investor stream prior to 1 July 2015, you are eligible to apply for a subclass 888 visa after holding your provisional visa for 3 years and 11 months. If you applied for your provisional visa after 1 July 2015 you are required to hold your provisional visa for at least 4 years prior to applying for a subclass 888 visa.

Eligibility – Significant Investor stream

If you are applying for a permanent visa (subclass 888) in the Significant Investor stream, you must have held at the time of application:

• a provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream or in the Significant Investor Extension stream.

You must have been in Australia as the holder of a provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor extension stream for at least 40 days per year (calculated cumulatively) for the period of time you have held your provisional visa(s), or your spouse has been in Australia for at least 180 days per year (calculated cumulatively) on the basis of the period of time the primary applicant has held their provisional visa(s).

In addition you (or you and your partner combined) must have:

• held complying investments continuously for at least 4 years while holding your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188).
• operated a qualifying business under the private Australian company in which you have made a direct complying investment if applicable.
• Note that the rules in force at the time you applied for you original subclass 188 visa in the Significant Investor stream will apply to you when your application for a subclass 888 visa is assessed.

If you applied for your provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream prior to 1 July 2015 you are eligible to apply for a subclass 888 visa after holding your provisional visa for 3 years and 11 months. If you applied for your provisional visa after 1 July 2015 you are required to hold your provisional visa for at least 4 years prior to applying for a subclass 888 visa.

Eligibility – Premium Investor stream

​If you are applying for a permanent visa (subclass 888) in the Premium Investor stream you must have held a provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Premium Investor stream at the time of application and be nominated by the Commonwealth government.

You must have held your provisional visa for a minimum of 1 year.

You (or you and your partner combined) must have held complying premium investments continuously for at least 1 year and for the entire time you have held your Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188).

Eligibility – Entrepreneur stream

​If you are applying for this visa in the Entrepreneur stream you must have been in Australia and held your provisional visa in the Entrepreneur stream for a continuous period of at least four years immediately before you apply.

In addition you must be able to demonstrate a successful record of entrepreneurial activities in Australia.

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