Subclass 188 · 888 · 132 Business Talent
Australia welcomes business owners and investors who bring capital, entrepreneurship and global expertise. CMG helps high-net-worth individuals navigate the Business Innovation and Investment Program.
MARA Code of Conduct
Professional Indemnity Insured
Free 30-min Consultation
Your Australian Migration Journey, Guided by MARA Registered Agents.
Overview
The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) is a state-nominated, points-tested migration pathway for business owners, investors and entrepreneurs. It operates through a two-stage process: a provisional visa (subclass 188) followed by a permanent visa (subclass 888 or 132). Applicants must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect and receive a state/territory nomination before being invited to apply. The program has multiple streams designed for different applicant profiles: from established business owners to significant investors placing millions in Australian-complying investments.
Key Facts
Business and innovation visa guidance
Business and investor migration is highly program-specific. The viable strategy depends on the current program status, the applicant's achievements or business history, evidence of funds or activity, and the contribution the proposed pathway expects.
The former Business Innovation and Investment Program has changed, and applicants should not assume that a historical subclass 188 route remains open to new applications. Existing visa holders, National Innovation visa prospects and other skilled or employer pathways need to be assessed separately against the rules in force at the time of action.
A credible case connects financial records, ownership or leadership history, innovation or investment outcomes, commercial plans and independent references. Documents should explain the source of funds, the applicant's genuine role and the measurable value of the proposed activity rather than relying on broad claims about entrepreneurship.
CMG begins with a program-status and profile review, then compares current alternatives before any substantial investment in preparation. Invitations, nomination, evidence thresholds, government charges and visa conditions are subject to change and should be checked against the official Department source.
Program status must be checked at the time you act. Historical business and investor pathways may be closed or restricted, while innovation, skilled and employer-sponsored options have different criteria. A profile review should confirm the current program before relying on a subclass or investment plan.
Practical preparation
Confirm whether the proposed subclass accepts new applications, invitations or only existing visa-holder activity.
Prepare transparent evidence showing ownership, lawful source, transfers, tax history and the purpose of funds.
Connect awards, turnover, investments, innovation, leadership and references to independently verifiable outcomes.
Compare innovation, skilled and employer-sponsored options where the historic investor route no longer fits.
Related search themes
This page answers the following closely related searches naturally within the guidance above:
Eligibility
Business or Investment Assets
RequiredDepending on the stream: 188A requires AUD $2M business turnover and 51% ownership; 188B requires net assets of AUD $2.25M; 188C requires AUD $5M in net assets. All assets must be legally obtained.
Points Test (Business Innovation Stream)
RequiredThe 188A Business Innovation stream uses a points test covering age, English, business turnover, net assets, business years, and additional factors. A score of 65 is required to submit an EOI.
Business Ownership & Management
RequiredFor the 188A stream, you must have owned and managed an eligible business for at least 2 of the last 4 years. The business must be a legally operating entity with verifiable turnover.
State/Territory Nomination
RequiredAll BIIP applicants must receive a state or territory nomination before receiving an invitation. Each state has its own criteria: some prioritise certain industries, regional areas, or minimum investment thresholds above the program minimums.
Complying Investment Framework (188C)
The 188C Significant Investor stream requires AUD $5M placed in prescribed complying investments: at least 10% in eligible venture capital, at least 30% in eligible emerging companies, and the balance in managed funds or listed securities.
Age Under 55 (Business Innovation)
Applicants for the 188A stream must generally be under 55 years of age. The 188B and 188C Investor streams do not have an age requirement. Individual states may apply their own criteria.
Visa Subclasses
For established business owners with a proven track record. Requires AUD $2M turnover, 51% ownership, and a genuine intent to own and manage a new or existing business in Australia.
For established investors. AUD $1.5M must be invested in State/Territory government bonds for 4 years. Net assets of AUD $2.25M required.
Australia's most prestigious business visa. AUD $5M in complying investments with no points test, no age limit, and no English language requirement.
Process
CMG reviews your business background, net assets and investment capacity to identify which BIIP stream is most appropriate. Business documentation must be assessed carefully against the relevant stream criteria.
Lodge an EOI in SkillSelect indicating your preferred state(s) for nomination. Provide accurate details of your business and financial position: inflated or inaccurate claims can result in refusal.
A state or territory nominates you based on their priorities and your EOI. Nomination may require a preliminary interview or additional documents demonstrating your business plan and commitment to the state.
After nomination, the Department of Home Affairs issues an invitation to apply for the 188 visa. You have 60 days to lodge a complete application.
Submit all financial evidence, business documents, tax returns, audited financial statements, police clearances and health examination results.
On your provisional 188 visa, you must actively engage with the program requirements: establish or purchase a business in Australia (188A), or make your complying investment (188B/C).
After meeting the stream-specific business or investment requirements during the provisional period, lodge the permanent 888 visa application. Requirements include evidence of business activity, financials and compliance with visa conditions.
Fees
| Government Fees 2025–26 | Fee (AUD) |
|---|---|
| 188 provisional visa (primary applicant) | AUD $9,850 |
| 888 permanent visa (primary applicant) | AUD $2,965 |
| Secondary applicant (18+) | AUD $4,925 |
| 132 Business Talent (primary) | AUD $9,850 |
| Audited financial statements | AUD $2,000–$5,000 |
| Business plan (if required) | AUD $1,000–$3,000 |
| CMG professional service fee | POA |
| Estimated Total | AUD $15,000–$25,000+ (primary applicant, excluding investment) |
Business and investor visa costs are in addition to the investment capital required by each stream. Figures shown are government fees only. CMG provides detailed cost estimates at consultation.
Documents
Search-led guidance
Understand the investor and business innovation pathways for people investing capital or running a business in Australia, and what each stream requires before nomination.
Quick answer
Australian investor and business innovation pathways are provisional visas for people who commit capital or operate a business in Australia, requiring state or territory nomination and leading to permanent residence after meeting ongoing conditions.
Direct answer
Australian investor and business innovation pathways are provisional visas for people who commit capital or operate a business in Australia, requiring state or territory nomination and leading to permanent residence after meeting ongoing conditions.
The useful starting point isn't which visa is easiest to get - it's what this one is designed to do. It suits investors and business owners with substantial, lawfully sourced capital who want an Australian residence pathway built around investment or business ownership rather than skilled employment.
What the visa is built to do shapes everything that follows: the evidence you'll need, the conditions attached to the grant, where you can live and work, and whether you'll have to apply again later.
The innovation stream is built around owning and managing a business, while the investor stream is built around holding qualifying investments. Each has its own capital, asset and involvement requirements.
The practical result of a grant is this: a provisional visa built around a qualifying investment or business in Australia, leading to permanent residence once the holding period and compliance conditions are satisfied.
Key points
Direct answer
You'll need to demonstrate a documented history of business ownership or qualifying investment, hold net assets that meet the threshold for the specific stream and jurisdiction and provide source-of-funds evidence tracing capital to a lawful origin.
Every one of these has to be met on its own. There's no averaging out, and a strong result elsewhere won't cover a gate you've missed.
Each jurisdiction sets its own capital thresholds, preferred industries and settlement expectations, so nomination strategy drives the timeline.
The order matters more than most people expect. A skills assessment and an English result both take months, and neither can be arranged after an invitation arrives - so start with whichever constraint is tightest, because that's the one setting your timeline.
Key points
Direct answer
A complete application typically requires investment portfolio statements and holding records for the qualifying period, audited business accounts and tax returns where the innovation stream applies and asset and liability statements with supporting valuations.
Documentation decides most outcomes, because the case officer can only weigh what's in front of them. The evidence set for this pathway usually includes:
Assemble audited accounts, tax records and source-of-funds documentation that traces each qualifying asset back to a lawful origin.
Read your file the way a stranger would. If a case officer has to reconcile two spellings of a name, an unexplained gap in employment or a reference that doesn't match the payslip, you'll be asked for more evidence - and that resets part of the assessment clock. Consistency is worth more than sheer quantity.
Key points
Direct answer
The costs of an investor pathway are dominated by evidence preparation rather than the visa charge alone, although the government charge is itself substantial.
The costs of an investor pathway are dominated by evidence preparation rather than the visa charge alone, although the government charge is itself substantial. Audited accounts, independent valuations, forensic source-of-funds analysis and legal structuring advice are the largest professional expenses, and they recur because the permanent stage requires evidence of ongoing compliance. Some jurisdictions charge a nomination fee, and the second instalment applies where the English requirement is not met. Budget for both stages of the pathway and for the professional work needed to demonstrate that capital was lawfully accumulated and remains compliantly invested.
Two kinds of cost behave quite differently, and mixing them up is what wrecks most budgets. The government charge is fixed, published and unavoidable, and it moves on the Department's schedule rather than yours. Everything else - assessment, testing, medicals, clearances, translations, professional fees - depends on your circumstances and your choices.
Thresholds differ by stream and are updated periodically, and some jurisdictions apply higher local requirements. Confirm the current figure for your stream and target jurisdiction before committing funds.
Build the budget line by line rather than from a single headline figure, then add a buffer. A repeated English test, an extra police clearance or a second instalment falling due later are all common. Where a pathway runs in two stages, compare the total across both - a cheaper first step can end up costing more overall.
Charges are indexed and revised, so treat every figure here as a planning guide and confirm the current schedule with the Department of Home Affairs before you pay anything.
Key points
Direct answer
Two clocks govern this pathway.
Two clocks govern this pathway. The first is nomination, which depends on jurisdiction priorities, quota availability and how well your capital profile matches local investment frameworks. The second is the holding or operating period required before the permanent stage can be lodged. Because the permanent stage depends on compliance over time rather than on a single assessment, the practical timeline is best measured in years rather than months. Applicants who plan the entire pathway from the outset, including the investment structure and the evidence they will need later, avoid the common trap of discovering at the permanent stage that their original structure does not satisfy the conditions.
It's worth separating two things that often get confused. Preparation is largely yours to control - gathering evidence, finishing a skills assessment or English test, obtaining clearances, assembling a decision-ready file. Assessment is not: it depends on how many applications sit ahead of yours and what checks your case triggers.
The encouraging part is that effort spent on preparation pays off during assessment. A complete application with consistent evidence avoids the requests for further information that reset part of that timeline, and time-sensitive documents like medicals and clearances can be sequenced so they're still valid when a decision is made. If the pathway is capped or queued, remember the wait reflects the number of places available, not the quality of your file.
Published times are historical medians rather than promises, so check the Department's current estimate for your subclass before you plan around a date.
Key points
Direct answer
Plan for 7 stages, in this order: confirm which stream matches your capital profile and appetite for active involvement.
The sequence carries as much weight as the content, because some steps have to be complete before the next is even possible. A workable order looks like this:
Most of the avoidable delay traces back to the same 5 mistakes:
This is an evidence-led process, not a form-filling exercise. Each claim needs support a case officer can check, and the cheapest way to get there is to decide what the evidence will be before you start writing anything.
Key points
FAQ
How the engagement works
Business innovation and investment applications are assessed as commercial propositions. The department tests turnover, ownership, business activity and genuine commitment to operating in Australia, so the application is essentially a structured business case supported by financial evidence over several years.
Subclass 188
Provisional visa
Business Innovation and Investment, provisional
Subclass 888
Permanent outcome
Business Innovation and Investment, permanent
Several years
Evidence horizon
Financial records over a defined period, not a snapshot
Quoted per matter
Fee basis
Scoped to the stream and the state nomination stage
Side by side
Streams differ in what they test: business ownership, investment activity, or entrepreneurial backing.
| Criterion | Business innovation | Investor | Entrepreneur |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | Ownership and management of an operating business | A defined investment managed over time | A funded, innovative venture with third-party backing |
| Evidence core | Turnover, ownership and management records | Investment holdings and compliance | Funding agreements and venture progress |
| Common gap | Ownership during the relevant period is not documented | Investment history cannot be traced cleanly | Funding is informal or undocumented |
| After grant | Operate a business in Australia | Maintain the investment | Carry out the entrepreneurial activity |
| Takes longest | Reconstructing the ownership record | Tracing the investment history | Documenting the funding and the venture |
| Fails on | Ownership share or management not evidenced | Investment not maintained as required | Backing that is informal or undocumented |
State and territory nomination is required for most business innovation and investment visas, and nomination criteria sit on top of the federal ones.
Sequence
The financial evidence takes the longest, so it starts first.
Ownership, turnover, assets and business history tested against each stream and against state criteria.
Registration with the relevant authority, then state or territory nomination with a business proposal.
Accounting records, ownership documents and management evidence assembled for the required period.
Lodged within the invitation window with the complete evidence set.
Departmental assessment, possible requests and, in many cases, an interview about the business.
Business activity in Australia is evidenced for the permanent stage.
Business and investor processing is long and varies by stream and by state. Plan on years, not months.
Budget
Beyond the government charge, the real costs are professional time in preparing the business and financial evidence.
| Cost item | Amount | When it applies | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government visa application charge | Several thousand dollars | On lodgement | Confirm the current charge for your stream. Indexed annually and higher with family members. |
| State nomination | Varies by state | Before application | Some programs charge; criteria and business proposals differ by state. |
| Accounting and financial documentation | Varies | Before lodgement | Production of the required financial evidence for the relevant period. |
| Our professional fee | Quoted per matter | Agreed in writing | Scoped to the stream, the nomination stage and the evidence work involved. |
| Investment or business capital | Stream-specific | As required | The substantive commitment, entirely separate from any fee. |
Indicative only. We set out third-party and capital requirements in writing before you commit.
Fit test
These visas reward documented business history and genuine intent to operate in Australia.
Failure modes
These are the failure modes specific to this pathway. Each is manageable if it is identified before lodgement rather than after a request from the department.
Ownership must be evidenced across the defined period, not just at lodgement.
Fix: We reconstruct the ownership record before lodgement and identify gaps early.
Related-party transactions are scrutinised and can distort turnover tests.
Fix: We review turnover with your accountant and present it transparently.
Nomination and visa assessment both test what you will actually do in Australia.
Fix: We build a specific, evidenced proposal tied to a real plan.
State nomination criteria sit on top of federal ones and differ by state.
Fix: We check state criteria before committing to a strategy.
The permanent stage tests what you actually did in Australia.
Fix: We plan the post-grant business activity from day one.
Capital must be genuinely available and lawfully acquired. Borrowed funds presented as assets invite refusal.
Fix: We verify the source of funds before the strategy is committed to.
A shareholder who did not direct the business does not meet management requirements.
Fix: We evidence decisions you actually made, with records from the time.
States monitor nominees and can withdraw nomination where commitments are not met.
Fix: We diarise every reporting date and prepare the update with you.
Evidence
These documents carry the application, and these are the details that usually undermine it.
| Document | What it has to establish | What strips it of weight |
|---|---|---|
| Business registration and ownership records | That you owned the business during the relevant period | Ownership changes that are undocumented |
| Financial statements | Turnover and the scale of the business | Statements that conflict with tax filings |
| Tax records | That the turnover was genuinely declared | Declared turnover well below what is claimed |
| Management evidence | That you actively managed the business | A passive shareholding presented as management |
| Asset and net worth evidence | That the financial thresholds are met | Assets that cannot be verified or are pledged elsewhere |
| Australian business proposal | What you intend to do in Australia | A generic proposal that could apply to any applicant |
| Business bank statements | That turnover actually moved through the business | Turnover that appears nowhere in the banking record |
| Employment records for Australian staff | That the commitment to employ was met | Headcount claimed but not supported by payroll |
| Source of funds narrative | That capital was lawfully acquired | Wealth accumulated in ways that cannot be traced |
Straight answers
Direct answers to the questions that come up at the first assessment.
It depends on whether your case rests on business ownership and management, on a defined investment, or on a funded entrepreneurial venture. We test your profile against each before recommending one.
Most business innovation and investment visas require state or territory nomination, and each state sets its own criteria on top of the federal requirements.
Thresholds are stream-specific and change over time. We confirm the current figures for your stream before you plan around them.
Business and investor cases are long: nomination, financial evidence, application and assessment commonly run to years. Plan accordingly.
The 188 is provisional. Permanent residence under the 888 follows once you have met the business or investment activity and residence requirements in Australia.
Yes, family members can usually be included, with additional charges and requirements.
Investment and business activity requirements are stream-specific and some are tied to the nominating state or to particular investment frameworks.
The permanent stage tests actual activity. Falling short of the commitment puts permanent residence at risk, so plan the business seriously from the start.
No. Turnover thresholds refer to business turnover, and income from employment is treated differently. We test your figures the way the department will before you plan around them.
The permanent stage has residence requirements, and states often expect nominees to be genuinely present and active. We track time in Australia against the requirement from day one.
Possibly, but ownership share must meet the threshold and management must be genuinely yours. Informal family arrangements are where many of these cases fail.
Assets must be verifiable, lawfully acquired and available to transfer. Assets pledged against borrowing, or held in ways that cannot be evidenced, do not assist.
Nomination sits underneath the visa. Losing it puts the visa at risk, so reporting obligations and genuine activity matter throughout the provisional period.
Often yes. Business cases are frequently tested in interview, and the questions go to your actual management role and your Australian plan. We prepare you properly for it.
After grant
The provisional stage is when the real obligation begins.
Set up and operate the activity you proposed, and document it from the start.
Australian financial records that will support the permanent stage.
Track time in Australia against the requirement for the permanent visa.
States often require updates from nominees. Respond to them.
Where the stream requires employment or investment, evidence it as you go.
The permanent application is built on what you did, so start early.
We work alongside your accountant so the Australian records are visa-ready, not just tax-ready.
A running file of invoices, payroll and contracts, so the 888 is not a reconstruction.
Current settings
This category has been reviewed and reshaped more than most. These are the moving parts.
Confirm current stream settings and state criteria with the department and the relevant state program before relying on any of these.
Reference figures
Anyone can fill in a form. The value in using a registered agent is judgement about what to lodge, and when.
Registration you can verify
Our agents are registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Registration is public - check it.
A written scope, every time
Fees and deliverables are agreed in writing before work begins. No ambiguity about what is covered.
Refusal risk named early
We tell you the weakest part of your case at the start, not when the department asks about it.
One evidence pack, used everywhere
The same verified chronology supports your assessment, your EOI and your visa application.
Figures move with policy and indexation. A registered agent will confirm each one against the current Department schedule before you commit to a pathway or a payment.
Coverage
Book a free 30-minute consultation with one of our MARA-registered agents. No obligation, no jargon, just expert information tailored to you. You can send an email or find the contact number on our website.
MARA Registered
Certified accountable, bound by law
Your Australian Migration Journey, Guided by MARA Registered Agents.
Across all visa categories, 2019 to 2024
500+ Visas Approved
GCC families, professionals, and students