On 14 September 2021, Victoria Government has announced that the State nominations for Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) subclass 188Bvisa – Investor stream and Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) subclass 188Cvisa– Significant Investor stream are now open for the program year 2021-2022.
The eligibility criteria for Investor stream nomination requires the applicants to be less than 55 years; intending to live in Victoria; complying with investments of at least AUD $2.5 million in Victoria(held for the duration of the provisional visa); securing at least 80 points in SkillSelect; be committed to meet the requirements for permanent residence as well as meet the Department’ visa criteria. Further, as part of the changes announced, the applicants are not required to make any additional investments or invest in Designated Investment Bonds but must make all complying Venture Capital and Private Growth Equity funds (VCPE) investments only into Victorian-based funds.
The eligibility criteria for SignificantInvestor stream nomination requires the applicants intending to live in Victoria; complying with investments of at least AUD $5 million in Victoria(held for the duration of the provisional visa); be committed to meet the requirements for permanent residence as well as meet the Department’ visa criteria. Further, as part of the changes announced, the applicants must make all complying with Venture Capital and Private Growth Equity funds (VCPE) investments only into Victorian-based funds.
The announcement further clarifies that the new requirements do not affect the nominations received prior to 01 July 2021. Interested and eligible applicants are now able to lodge a nomination application via the Live in Melbourne portal and ensure that any requests for further information are responded to within 2 weeks. The current processing times for the Investor stream and Significant Investor stream are 20 days and 10 days, respectively.