188 – Significant Investor stream
Queensland welcomes migrants interested in making a significant complying investment in Australia.
This is a state-nominated 4-year provisional visa. It is a stream of the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) and a pathway to permanent residency through the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888).
State nomination for this visa is managed by the Queensland Government, through Migration Queensland, in collaboration with the Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs.
Eligibility criteria
To be considered for Queensland state nomination, you must first meet the Australian Government’s Home Affairs Immigration Eligibility Criteria.
You must also meet the Migration Queensland criteria below, which is different for each visa stream.
Significant Investor stream
To seek Queensland state nomination, you must:
- demonstrate that you have at least A$5 million available to transfer into complying Australian investment frameworks for 4 years
- meet the complying investment frameworks set by Austrade and provide details of your complying investment intentions to Migration Queensland
- commit to living in Queensland – with additional investments indicated.
Application process
Step 1
Review your eligibility criteria, visa conditions, and document checklist on the Department of Home Affairs website and the Migration Queensland website. Ensure that you meet both the Home Affairs and Migration Queensland criteria and that you have all your documentation ready before you apply.
Step 2
For Queensland state nomination, submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) with SkillSelect. Ensure that all information, such as work experience, is included in your EOI. Preference will be given to applicants who select “Queensland” as their nominating state of choice over applicants who select “Any” state.
Step 3
Migration Queensland assesses all EOIs that meet the above Home Affairs and Migration Queensland criteria. If you are successful, you will receive an email invitation to lodge an application and be requested to provide the following documents.
- Queensland State Nomination Application form
- Home Affairs Form 1139A
Note: You must upload these documents digitally through the Document Portal link in your invitation email. Migration Queensland no longer accepts documents sent by email or post. You can only upload one document per file. If you have multiple documents, merge, and save them as one file.
Step 4
When you have received your invitation from Migration Queensland:
- upload the required documents, and
- pay the non-refundable application fee to finalise your application. Do not pay the fee until you have been invited to apply and all your documents have been uploaded.
Migration Queensland will then review your application and request any further information.
Note: You will be given 14 days to finalise your application from the date of invitation. If you are unable to provide the relevant information within this time frame, you must seek an extension from Migration Queensland. Applications not finalised within the timeframe will be closed and you will need to submit a new EOI if you wish to seek Queensland nomination again.
Step 5
Once Migration Queensland has received and approved your completed application, you will receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs to lodge your visa application. You will be given 60 days to lodge your application with them.
Note: If you realise that you have made a mistake on your submitted EOI after receiving a nomination, or if you miss the lodgement date, you will have to wait 6 months before applying again.
Nomination extension
You can apply to extend this visa for an extra 2 years under a Significant Investor Extension stream. You can apply for this extension stream twice, giving you a maximum of 8 years on this provisional visa.
As per the Home Affairs Immigration Eligibility Criteria for the extension stream, you must:
- already hold a visa in the Significant Investor stream, and either:
- have had it for at least 3 years, or
- have not held more than 1 visa in the Significant Investor Extension stream
- have a current nomination from Queensland
- have a genuine intention to live in Queensland
- have maintained your complying investment or complying significant investment in accordance with the complying investment framework in place at the time you applied for your original 188 visa.
If your extension visa is granted, this gives you extra time to meet the criteria for the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888).
To request an extension to your visa, email Migration Queensland (migration@qld.gov.au), providing reasons for an extension of your visa. You will need to include your full name, date of birth, and current visa subclass.
Migration Queensland will assess your current circumstances and decide whether you are eligible to apply for an extension. If you are eligible, we will send an email requesting further information. A processing fee will apply.