DIAC makes changes to Australian Business Skills Visa.
The Australian Department for Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) yesterday announced changes that tightens legislation for the Australian Skilled Business Visas.
Firstly in an attempt to protect Australian visa applicants from rogue business agencies, the DIAC has issued advice that there is no Australian government approved list of businesses that potential Australian migrants need to purchase.
Business migrants are warned that they will not be able to enter Australia to operate any kind of business unless they have a legitimate and appropriate Australian visa. Also before purchasing a business in Australia, potential migrants must first check whether approval is needed from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
The changes that came into place yesterday largely concerns the minimum eligibility requirements for the Business Skills Migration Program. Overall net assets have been increased so that applicants for a provisional Business Skills visa (subclass 163 and 164) now need $500,000 instead of the previous $250,000 and those applying for the subclass 160 (Business Owner) and 161 (Senior Executive) now need to prove $800,000 in net assets.
In addition to this, business owner are now required to prove ownership or a controlling interest in a substantial part of the business. This change affects the Business Skills visa subclasses of 132, 160, 163, 890, 892, 845 and 846.
Furthermore for State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visas the occupation of senior manager has now been removed. That means that only business owners can now apply for that visa.
These changes will not apply to applicants of permanent onshore business visas or those who have already purchased businesses in Australia.
The DIAC have explained that the changes stem from the rising cost of living in Australia, especially with regards to setting up a business in Australia. They say that the changes will also protect the visas and visa applicants from exploitation.
More information can be found on the DIAC website.
Love Australia? Let us keep you informed...
- Join the Embrace Australia community today. Have your questions answered by our experts, start your own blog, get vital migration information and gain valuable insight from those who have already made the journey.
- Subscribe to our RSS Feed and have all our daily news and features delivered straight to your news reader.
- Join our mailing list -
