What is 165 Visa?
This visa is for people who have a successful business or investment career, and have a genuine and realistic commitment to be involved in investing or business in Australia. This visa is also the first step towards being granted a permanent Business Skills visa.
More details:
This visa is a temporary visa, and the first step towards being granted a permanent Business Skills visa. You must be outside Australia when this visa is granted, unless you held a student visa at the time you applied.
You may be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa after holding this visa for a minimum of two (2) years. To be eligible for a permanent Business Skills visa you must meet all the obligations of this visa and additional requirements of the permanent Business Skills visa you apply for. Meeting these requirements may take you longer than two (2) years.
After two (2) years you may be eligible to apply for one of the following visas:
- Investor (residence)
- State/Territory Sponsored Investor (residence)
- Business Owner (residence)
- State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner (residence)
How much will this visa cost?
What does this visa let me do?
With this visa you can:
- make a designated investment
- travel in and out of Australia any number of times as long as the visa is valid
- have your family accompany you to Australia. They will have access to work and study rights
- establish a pathway to permanent residence.
Visa validity period
This visa is valid for four years.
If the visa is granted while you are:
If the visa is granted while you are:
- in Australia (Student visa holders only) it is valid from the date of grant
- outside Australia it is valid from the entry expiry date on your visa label.
Obligations
Investor
You must maintain your designated investment for 4 years.
Visa conditions
- You must not marry before you enter Australia
- You must enter Australia before anyone else included in your visa application
Note: This means your family members cannot enter Australia before you.
Family Member Obligations
Family members must not enter Australia before the Investor.
Eligibility
Below are the requirements you must meet to be eligible for a State/Territory Sponsored Investor (provisional) visa. You must provide evidence of each of the requirements with your application.
Age
You must be less than 55 years old (except where the regional authority considers that the proposed business will be of exceptional economic benefit to the region).
You must be sponsored by an appropriate regional authority of a State or Territory government.
Designated Investment
At the time of the decision you made a government approved Designated Investment of at least AUD750,000 in a state or territory of Australia. This amount must be available for transfer to Australia within a reasonable period when requested.
For at least one of the five fiscal years immediately before you apply:
- you have maintained direct involvement in either managing a main business in which you (or you and your partner together) had an ownership interest of at least:
- 51 per cent of the business where the turnover is less than AUD400 000 per annum
- 30 per cent of the business where the turnover is AUD400 000 or more per annum
- 10 per cent where the business is a publicly listed company
or
- You maintained direct involvement in managing your (or you and your partner's combined) eligible investments. The total value of that investment was at least AUD750,000.
You have an overall successful record of eligible investment of qualifying business activity.
You have a total of at least three years experience of direct involvement in managing one of more main businesses of eligible investments.
You have demonstrated a high level of management skill in relation to an eligible investment or qualifying business activity.
You (or your partner) have never been involved in unacceptable business or investment activities.
You have a commitment to develop and maintain an ownership interest in a business in Australia and you must maintain direct and continuous involvement in the management of that business.
The net value of your (or your and your partner's combined) assets was at least AUD1,125,000 for the two fiscal years immediately before you apply.
