188E Entrepreneur Stream

Entrepreneur steam is another visa category of the Australian Government’s Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) subclass 188 visas and Business innovation and Investment subclass 888 visa. This stream is referred as subclass 188E.

This visa stream will give the visa holder a validity of 4 years and 3 months to carry out entrepreneurial activities in Australia.

Features of 188E visa

• No business and personal assets or capital required;
• You do not have to have successful business history and managerial roles for your past business;
• Applicants do not have to meet the points test requirement to get 65 points in order to be invited;
• This is a provisional visa to allow you to stay up to 4 years and 3 months;
• You will need to hold this visa continuously for at least 4 years before you can apply for permanent resident visa subclass 888;

Criteria for this visa

In order to be eligible for this visa stream, applicants need to meet the following criteria:

• You must be undertaking, or proposing to undertake, a complying entrepreneur activity in Australia. And you must have a genuine intention to continue to undertake the complying entrepreneur activity.Complying entrepreneur activity mean an innovative ideas that is proposed to lead to:
  (i) the commercialisation of a products or services in Australia; or
  (ii) the development of an enterprise or business in Australia;The following business activities are not recognised as complying activity:

  – Residential real estate
  – Labour hire
  – Purchase of an existing enterprise or a franchise in Australia

• You will need to sign an agreement with the following entities to receive funding of at least AU$200,000 from them. This funding to be provided to the entrepreneurial entity under the agreement is unencumbered and legally acquired.- Commonwealth government agency
  –  State or territory government agency
  –  Publicly funded research or innovation organisation
  –  Higher education provider
  – Investor registered as an Australian Venture Capital Limited Partnership or Early State Venture Capital Limited Partnership
• Applicant must seek and be nominated by a State or territory government.
• Visa applicant must be under 55 of years of age.
• The nominating State or territory is satisfied that the net values of the business and personal assets of the applicant is sufficient to allow them to settle in Australia.
• You and family also have to meet health and character requirements before the visa can be granted.
• You should maintain a good record of visa history, not to have had a visa cancelled or refused before while you were in Australia.

How can you conduct the activity ?

In the agreement signed with the Australian entities, you need to make sure you must hold at least 30% interest in the entrepreneur entity. And at least 10% of the funding must be payable to the entrepreneurial entity within 12 months of the activity starting in Australia.

The entity that will conduct the activity (entrepreneurial entity) can be in the form of business structure of either as an individual, a company or a partnership.

Like any other 188 stream visas, this 188E is a provisional visa only, which allows you to stay in Australia for 4 years and 3 months. Visa holder may apply for permanent resident visa subclass 888 after having held the provisional visa continuously for at least 4 years, and having met other criteria. Find out more about the requirements for the permanent visa subclass 888 by clicking here.

188E entrepreneur stream can’t be extended for visa holders to stay longer in Australia.

Check with Korrylink for your eligibility or for a visa option.