The 188 Investor visa or 188B requires an investment of AUD 2.5 million. For a 188B application you will need to show Source of Funds to prove that they are lawfully acquired, and accumulated from an eligible investment activity. Real estate assets, for the purpose of producing capital gains are considered eligible. This excludes the family home. For investments in real estate the Department would expect an active investor to produce an annual portfolio performance report including the annual return in percentage for each of the years a property was managed. Active investment management would include the property being actively evaluated at regular intervals for the performance of the asset against other potential investments in addition to future forecast of the investment strategy to show active management of the investment as opposed to simple land ownership. Even if an inherited asset is excluded from consideration, any returns achieved on the original value of that asset may still be included. This is a complex area of migration law and consultation with an experienced registered migration agent is highly recommended.
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What residency by investment routes in Australia cost less than the A$5 million that is required by the significant investor visa program?
I am from Vietnam and have much of my assets in land. Do I need to prove source of funds?
Answers
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Australia’s Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment visas provide 4 options. Apart from the Significant Investor option of investing AUD$ 5 million, the other 3 options are: (1) Business Innovation Stream, requiring transfer of AUD$ 1,25 million; (2) Investor Stream, requiring transfer of AUD$ 2.5 million; and (3) the Entrepreneur Stream for the start-ups and early stage entrepreneurs who have approved business concepts that are approved by the State or Territory government in Australia, which does not specify any minimum amount of investment. The applicant must nominate the assets with evidence to support their source of funds by providing their asset portfolio's source of funds that were lawfully acquired which can be in any country. The applicant needs to show that the funds used to make the complying investments originate from the assets nominated to make the complying investments. The trail of funds must also be reasonably established with supporting evidence.
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There are two investment pathways for Australia, both under the subclass 188 visa. The lower pathway is the Investor stream and requires A$2,500,000 to be invested in complying significant investments (structure of 3 funds). The funds that are invested must be accumulated from eligible investment or qualifying business activity only - fortunately, eligible investment activity can include property (ie. earnings from capital gain on buying and selling property, or rental return). You would need to prove these funds have been earned through these activities and the funds are legally acquired. Additionally, it is also possible to use a loan to make the investment where the property is used as security for the loan and we have used this successfully for many clients in Vietnam, allow the clients to retain the property but still use the property to meet the source of fund requirements.
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The 188B Visa requires a complying investment of $2.5 million AUD for 4 years into funds. The Business Innovation and Investment Programme has integrity measures, which includes close scrutiny of applicants’ financial arrangements and history, including verifying the sources of applicants’ funds.
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Australia also has the subclass 188 investor stream visa, which requires only A$2.5 million to invest in specified complying investment types. You will need to prove a minimum personal net asset wealth of AUD$2.5 million and your source of funds. Eligibility must also include either 3 prior years of successful investment portfolio OR managing a business (with at least 10% share ownership). You also need to be under 55 years of age and have at least a minimum of 65 points on the EOI Skillselect system to be invited to apply. To find out other legitimate investment pathways, consult with a registered migration professional.