Please note this notice does not constitute legal advice and we would highly recommend you seek the advice of a registered migration agent as to your individual circumstances.
Lodgement of visa subclass 888 application
If you applied for your provisional visa (subclass 188) in the Significant Investor stream prior to 1 July 2015, you are eligible to apply for a subclass 888 visa after holding your provisional visa for 3 years and 11 months. If you applied for your provisional visa (subclass 188) after 1 July 2015, you are required to hold your provisional visa (subclass 188) for at least 4 years prior to applying for a subclass 888 visa.
Holding your complying investment for the life of your provisional visa (subclass 188)
In order to meet Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) criteria to apply for the visa subclass 888 as a SIV holder, you must hold your complying investments continuously for the life of your provisional visa (subclass 188).
You can switch between complying investments provided that:
- funds you withdraw from an investment are reinvested into other complying investments within 30 days
- the sum withdrawn corresponds with the sum reinvested (irrespective of any gains and losses due to market exposures).
Funds reinvested into a complying investment within 30 days are taken to have been held continuously from the original investment date.
SIV holders with a Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) Bond – Designated Investment
If you lodged your provisional visa application (subclass 188) prior to 1 July 2015 and you have invested into QTC bonds, you must demonstrate to DIBP that the complying investment was held continuously for the life of your provisional visa (subclass 188). If your QTC bond matures more than 30 days prior to the expiry of your provisional visa (subclass 188), you will need to have reinvested into another complying investment to demonstrate to DIBP that you have held your complying investment continuously for the life of your provisional visa (subclass 188).
