Changes to Australia’s Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) will take effect from 1 July 2015 and will include the introduction of the Premium Investor visa (PIV), and new flexible residency arrangements for the Significant Investor visa (SIV).
The BIIP was created to attract foreign investors and entrepreneurs to Australia. In addition to the SIV and PIV, the BIIP also includes the Investor visa and the Business Innovation visa.
The Premium Investor visa (PIV) has been created as a new stream within the BIIP with the purpose of attracting high net worth individuals to contribute their entrepreneurial skills and talent to Australia. The PIV will be introduced on July 1, and requires applicants to invest AUD 15 million into complying investments for a minimum of twelve months before being eligible to apply for a permanent visa.
Also on July 1, new rules for the Significant Investor visa (SIV) will come into effect that will allow either the primary applicant to reside in Australia for a minimum of 40 days per year, or alternatively the secondary applicant (spouse or partner) to reside in the country for 180 days per year. The residency requirement will be per year and will be calculated cumulatively over the period of the provisional four-year visa.
SIV holders are required to invest AUD 5 million into complying investments for a minimum of four years before being eligible to apply for a permanent visa.
Aside from changes to the SIV and the PIV, another change will apply only to the Investor and Business Innovation streams, which is the reintroduction of role swapping. This allows a secondary applicant to fulfill the primary criteria for the permanent visa on behalf of the primary applicant.
Source: Migration Blog