Premium Investor Visa programs for immigration to Australia

The Australian Government has made regulations which implement:

• a new Premium Investor Visa (PIV) program;
• and its proposed changes to the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) Program,

from 1 July 2015.

The SIV still requires an AUD$5 million investment to be made in Australia, however there have been a number of changes to permitted investments.

Premium Investor Visa

The PIV is a new visa stream available from 1 July 2015. The PIV requires an AUD$15 million investment in Australia. The PIV enables successful applicants to obtain permanent residency after an accelerated period of 12 months. Austrade is responsible for recommending applicants for PIV. However, the States and Territories are able to make referrals of applicants to Austrade. The assessment will be made on an individual basis.

The PIV is aimed at attracting business skills and entrepreneurial talent to Australia which are aligned to National or State and Territory investment priorities. Permitted investments may be through Australian managed investment funds1, LICs or direct investments in only one or more of the following:

• Annuities issued by a life company, where the annuity does not repay capital during the period of the visa
• Philanthropic contributions approved by States or Territories
• Australian proprietary limited companies
• Corporate bonds or notes issued by an Australian exchange listed entity (or its wholly owned Australian subsidiary)
• Investment grade rated Australian corporate bonds or notes rated by an AFS licensed rating agency
• Australian government or semi-government bonds or notes
• Cash (for investments through managed funds only) held by Australian ADIs (including certificates of deposit, bank bills and other cash-like instruments) - but cash must not make up more than 20% of the fund's net assets
• Derivatives - but these must be used only for risk management purposes
• Australian exchange listed securities; or
• Commercial real property in Australia.

Direct investments into residential real property cannot be made, however, indirect investments can be made through a managed fund, provided the fund's residential real property investments do not exceed 10% of the net value of the fund's assets.

In any case, an indirect residential real property investment may not be made if it is for the dominant purpose of:

• deriving financial benefits; or
• assisting the investor, investor's spouse or de facto partner, or any member of any of their families, to reside in or gain legal ownership in Australian residential real property.

Significant Investor Visa

The changes to the SIV program came into effect on 1 July 2015.

Austrade is now one of the referring agencies able to make recommendations for the SIV (in addition to the States and Territories).

There have been a number of changes to permitted SIV investments. The new arrangements are set out as follows:

New SIV investment mix

Australian Financial Services Licensing (AFSL) Requirements

The general partner of a venture capital fund, trustee or responsible entity of a managed investment scheme, issuer of shares in an LIC, insurer or investment manager in relation to the above investment vehicles, must hold an AFSL or be exempt from the need to hold one. Further, they must have their central management and control in Australia and be unrelated to the investor, their spouse or de facto partner.

For more news and updates, assistance with your visa needs or for a Free Assessment of your profile for Immigration or Work Visa’s just visit www.y-axis.com