Australia grants about 15,000 visas during pandemic

By Uglobal Staff

Australia has granted close to 15,000 visas to businesspersons and entrepreneurs since the pandemic began last year, according to latest figures from the country's Department of Home Affairs.

A total of 10,210 visas were granted under the Subclass 188 –Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa category while 4,396 visas were issued under the Subclass 888 – Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa category between March 21, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

The Subclass 188 – Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa has several streams under it, including the Business Innovation stream for those who wish to run a business or a startup in the country; the Investor stream which requires an investment of at least 2.5 million Australian dollars; the Significant Investor where the minimum investment threshold has been set at 5 million Australian dollars; and the Premium Investor that can be utilized only by those who have at least 15 million Australian dollars to spare for investment.

The Subclass 888 – Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa category allows successful applicants of the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) to stay permanently in the country.

Australia welcomes 15,000 businesspeople with visas during pandemic

Even though the country closed its borders some 15 months ago to non-citizens as a measure to counter the spread of COVID-19 in the country, around 3,500 of these nearly 15,000 successful business, innovation and investor visa holders were able to enter the country during the pandemic, Home Affairs figures revealed.

The country's visa program for businesspersons, entrepreneurs, innovators brought in more than 15.9 billion Australian dollars into the country's economy between 2012 and May 2021, a home office representatives told media.

The top five countries that apply for the Significant Investor Visa are China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and South Africa.

Between Nov. 24, 2012, and June 30, 2020, around 85% of successful applicants of the Significant Investor stream were from China followed by Hong Kong (3.6%), Malaysia (1.7%), South Africa (1.4%) and Vietnam (1.4%).

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