by Matthew Halliday MARN0701626, Director GA Consulting Co Ltd
Australia has a number of visa options for investors and business people looking to make the move to Australia. One issue we often face in our practice however is that the age of the applicant may restrict his or her ability to apply for a particular visa stream.
In general, applicants aged over 55 or older will generally not be eligible for 188A ‘Business Innovation stream’ or 188B ‘Investor stream’ visas unless they are given an age waiver by a State government.
As such, most of the time, the easier and simpler option for such applicants is the 188C 'Significant Investor Visa'. While the 188 Significant Investor visa requires an investment of 5 million AUD into managed funds, there is no age limit and investors only need to be resident in Australia for 40 days per year. Once the investment is made with a professional fund management company, there is not too much more for the investor to do than to get on with their lives and enjoy their time in Australia.
However what if you are 55 or oler but are short on having 5 million AUD to make the investment for the Significant Investor Visa? In this case, your only real option is to look for a State government willing to give you an age waiver. An added bonus of gaining such a waiver is that you will also be awarded 10 more points. This is particularly advantageous to applicants who are also struggling to satisfy the score of 65 points that is required by the Business Innovation and Investor streams of the subclass 188 visa.
However not every state in Australia is openly providing such a wavier to applicants who will be 55 or older at the time of being invited to lodge a visa application. The three main states offering these age waivers and additional points are Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
Additional Requirements for Age Waiver by State - Business and Investment Visas
Of the three states, South Australia is probably the most flexible in providing age waiver exemptions and additional points. It should be noted that applications requiring an age waiver are not guaranteed to be approved in any of these jurisdictions and will be approved on a competitive basis. Additionally, certain states are stricter in terms of limiting applicants from making changes to their plans after visa approval.
As such, applicants would be well advised to seek assistance from an Australian Registered Migration Agent in crafting their submissions for State nomination to enhance their chances for success and also to discuss the most appropriate strategy for their particular case taking into account their goals and background.
We have more than 15 years of experience in business and investment migration having helped countless clients gain state nomination approval successfully. We provide assistance ranging from business plan preparation, market research and submission preparation to visa processing and settlement advice. Please feel free to contact us to book in a discussion concerning how we might assist you in achieving your Australian migration and business goals.
Contact
Matthew Halliday MARN 0701626
Director GA Consulting
+82 2 2058 1119
matthew@gaconsulting.co.kr