1. How long will it take for my business visa to be granted?
3. I have a subclass 160/161/163/164 visa. Can I still apply for permanent residency?
4. What is the difference between a temporary residency visa and a permanent residency visa?
Q. How long will it take for my business visa to be granted?
- The process of applying for a subclass 188 visa involves lodging an Expression of Interest (an EoI) with the Department of Immigration, and being sponsored by the State or Territory in which you will be living and investing funds. Once the State Government has confirmed it is sponsoring the visa application an invitation to progress a visa application is usually issued by the Department of Immigration quickly – usually within a few days. The timeline from there will depend on issues that are specific to your application.
- Subclass 457 visas follow a different process, and require the Department of Immigration’s approval of the application to be a business sponsor, the nomination of the skilled position, and the visa application. As a rule we say that our clients should allow 2 to 3 months for the whole process, with a lead time required to bring together the application documentation.
- Permanent residency visas applications lodged under subclasses 890 and 892 are unfortunately taking approximately 18 months to process to a decision at the moment
Q. I have a choice between applying for a subclass 188 visa and a self sponsored subclass 457 visa. Which should I choose?
- As a rule we recommend a subclass 188 visa application as a preference over a 457 application. We say this as the validity period of a subclass 457 visa granted to new businesses in Australia is 18 months, so another 457 visa application will be necessary to secure the necessary minimum period of employment required to secure a permanent residency visa under the Temporary Residence Transition stream of subclass 186.
- In other words, the 188 Business Innovation stream pathway is likely to be a less costly pathway through to permanent residency.
Q. I have a subclass 160/161/163/164 visa. Can I still apply for permanent residency?
- Yes, permanent residency visas under subclasses 890 and 892 continue to be available to holders of these visas
Q. What is the difference between a temporary residency visa and a permanent residency visa?
- A temporary residency visa allows you to remain in Australia until a fixed date – which is the date that the temporary residency visa expires. For example, a subclass 188 visa granted under the Business Innovation stream is valid initially for 4 years and 3 months, though it can be extended by a further 2 years.
- A permanent residency visa allows you to remain in Australia indefinitely.
