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Important :- In general, to own a Newsagency, you will need to successfully apply to Tatts/Lotteries/Golden Casket. They will need you to demonstrate an ability to read, write and articulate English to a satisfactory standard, to be invited to attend their training. This will include a face to face interview, and may include a formal English test.

All parties on a contract for purchase, including owners, operators, partners and directors, will need to satisfy these supplier requirements.

This fact Sheet is an example of the huge amount of information available on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.

For more detailed information visit :-

http://www.immi.gov.au/

Fact Sheet 27 – Business Skills Migration

On this page

  • Background
  • Source locations
  • Structure of the Business Skills program
  • State specific initiatives
  • Visa categories
  • After arrival

Australia’s Business Skills Program encourages successful business people to settle in Australia and use their proven business attributes to develop business activity in Australia.

Background

Successive governments have re-affirmed a commitment to selecting high quality business migrants, in recognition of the benefits they contribute to Australia’s increasingly global economy. They bring with them knowledge of overseas markets, business networks, cultural practices and languages other than English, as well as their specific business skills and experience.

Business migrants benefit Australia by:

  • developing international markets
  • transferring capital and making investments
  • creating or maintaining employment
  • exporting Australian goods and services
  • introducing new or improved technology
  • substituting Australian-made products for goods that would otherwise be imported
  • adding to commercial activity and competitiveness within sectors of the Australian economy.

Source locations

In 2009–10 the top ten source countries in the Business Skills category for Business Skills category were: China, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Structure of the Business Skills program

The majority of all Business Skills migrants enter Australia initially on a provisional (temporary) visa for four years and, after satisfactory evidence of a specified level of business or investment activity, may apply for permanent residence. These arrangements provide for the entry of business owners, senior executives and investors.

The pathway to permanent residence is designed to give clarity and certainty to provisional business migrants and relies upon the establishment and management of genuine business activity in Australia.

High calibre business migrants may apply for a Business Talent visa to obtain direct permanent residence if they have high level business attributes and are sponsored by a state or territory government agency.

The Business Skills visa grant outcome for 2009–10 was 6789.

State specific initiatives

Australia is actively encouraging Business Skills entrants to set up businesses in regional, rural or low growth areas of Australia.

To help meet this objective, the shared interests of state and territory governments have been given greater priority in ongoing development of the two-stage processing arrangements.

Applicants may seek sponsorship from a state or territory government. Sponsorship enables states and territories to attract the kinds of business people they are seeking to assist in the economic development of their specific areas and provides access to concessional criteria. This link also encourages applicants who are more committed to succeeding in business in Australia.

In 2009–10, the state and territory sponsored Business Skills outcome was 6527. This amounts to about 96.1 per cent of the total Business Skills outcome.

The Business Skills visa categories

(i)Business Skills (Provisional) visas
A Business Skills (Provisional) visa is valid for four years as follows:

  • Business Owner (Provisional)(subclass 160/163) is for people with a successful business career, including senior management or ownership, who have significant business assets and have a genuine and realistic commitment to participate as a principal in the management of a new or existing business. Applicants in this category may be sponsored by a state or territory government.
  • Senior Executive (Provisional)(subclass 161/164) is for senior executive employees of major overseas businesses who have been responsible for strategic policy development affecting a major component or a wide range of operations of that business, who have significant net assets and a genuine and realistic commitment to participate as a principal in the management of a new or existing business. Applicants in this category may be sponsored by a state or territory government.
  • Investor (Provisional) (subclass 162/165) is for investors/business people who have an overall successful record of business or investment activities, have significant net assets, are willing to invest funds in a designated investment in Australia for four years and have a genuine commitment to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants in this category may be sponsored by a state or territory government.

(ii)Business Skills (Residence) visas
The Business Skills (Residence) category of visa is the second stage of Business Skills entry providing for permanent stay in Australia with a resident return facility valid for five years from the date of grant.

  • Business Owner (Residence) (subclass 890/892) is for people who hold a Business Skills (Provisional) visa and have had an ownership interest in a business in Australia for at least two years with significant personal and business assets turnover, as well as a minimum number of employees. Applicants must have been in Australia for at least one year in the two years immediately before applying. Applicants in this category may be sponsored by a state or territory government.
  • Investor (Residence) (subclass 891/893) is for people who have held an Investor (Provisional) visa and a designated investment for the minimum four years, and who have lived in Australia for at least two years in the four years immediately before the application is made. Applicants in this category may be sponsored by a state or territory government.

(iii)Business Talent (Migrant) visa
The Business Talent (Migrant) (subclass 132) visa is for high calibre business people who are owners or part owners of an overseas business and have an overall successful business career, significant business assets and have a genuine and realistic commitment to participate as a principal in the management of a new or existing business.

This category must be sponsored by a state or territory government and comprises less than two per cent of the total Business Skills caseload.

After arrival – obligations of Business Skills visa holders

Apart from the requirements that Provisional visa holders must meet to secure permanent residence, there are specific monitoring provisions and obligations imposed on Business Talent visa holders.

Business Talent visa holders must provide the department in Australia with a contact address within six months of their initial arrival.

Their progress is monitored after arrival and they will be sent a letter requesting details of their business activity 24 months after their initial arrival in Australia.

Where a Business Talent visa holder has not made a genuine effort to obtain a substantial ownership interest in an eligible business within three years of arrival, they may be liable for visa cancellation under section 134 of the Migration Act 1958.

Business Skills (Provisional) visa holders are required to obtain an ownership interest in a business in Australia or maintain their investment in Australia for four years. If this requirement is not met, they may not be eligible to apply for a Business Skills (Residence) visa and may have to leave Australia.

Further information is available on the department’s website.
See: www.immi.gov.au

The department also operates a national general enquiries line.
Telephone: 131 881
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm (recorded information is available outside these hours).

Fact Sheet 27. Produced by the National Communications Branch, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Canberra.
Last reviewed September 2010.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2009.
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