Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Visa

Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner or State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner Class DF Subclass 892 visa: Who can & How to apply

The Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa is for people who have been granted certain provisional or temporary visas to apply for permanent resident visa.

If you hold 1 of the following visas, regardless of your age, you could apply for a permanent Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa to allow you to continue to live and work in Australia:

1. Subclass 160 – Business Owner; or
2. Subclass 161 – Senior Executive; or
3. Subclass 162 – Investor; or
4. Subclass 163 – State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner; or
5. Subclass 164 – State/Territory Sponsored Senior Executive; or
6. Subclass 165 – State/Territory Sponsored Investor.

All of the above visas are now closed to new applicants, however, you could still apply for a Business Innovation and Investment visa (click here for Business Innovation 188A visa or Business Investment 188B visa or Business Significant Investor 188C visa or Business Entrepreneur 188E visa).

To be eligible for the permanent Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa, you will be required to show you have ownership interest in at least 1 main business throughout the 24 months period before you lodge your visa application. The business can be an existing business in which you are an owner or part-owner, or a newly established business.

The 24 months of business ownership can be satisfied through consecutive ownership of 1 or more businesses if the main business was not owned for the full 24 months. For example, you may have owned “Company ABC” for 16 months and “Company XYZ” for 8 months. The Department of Immigration (Department of Home Affairs) may use its discretion to accept where there is a very short break between 1 business winding up and a new business is established.

Another qualifying criterion for the Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa is that you must own a certain shareholding of your main business:

1. 51% if the business annual turnover is less than $400,000; or
2. 30% if the business annual turnover is at least $400,000; or
3. 10% if the business is a public listed company.

The Department of Immigration will also require you to demonstrate you maintain direct and continuous involvement in the daily management of your main business. You must also be making decisions that affect the overall direction and performance of the business.

Another of the Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa requirement is that you must have employed at least 1 full-time or part-time equivalent Australian resident employee working for at least 30 hours per week. You can, for example, employed 2 full-time employees for 4 months and 1 part-time employee for 8 months, this will be considered as having met the local employee requirement.

To fulfil this requirement, you will need to provide details and evidence to match your employee(s) details against, for example, employment or business records such as taxation records, insurance, WorkCover or superannuation documents or other business records identifying your employee(s) by name.

A further requirement for the Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa is that you must have certain amount of net personal assets and business assets in Australia. This is to show that you have made a financial commitment to the country and expose to business risk through your personal financial investment.

You are required to show in the last 12 months before applying for the Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa, you and/or partner (spouse or de facto partner), have at least $250,000 in net value of your business and personal assets combined.

Assets in your main business must be at least $75,000 and your annual business (can be 2 main businesses) turnover must be at least $200,000 in the last 12 months before applying for this visa.

Lastly, you must have resided in Australia for at least 1 year or 365 days in the last 2 years before applying of the Subclass 892 State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa.

Australian migration law is complex and difficult to understand, contact our immigration lawyer for a consultation (fee applies) to help you apply for this visa (click here to learn how an immigration lawyer or registered migration agent can help you) or click here to learn more or click here to search for your answers in our FAQ.

This article is not intended to be or taken as migration legal advice. The author of this article disclaims any liability for any action or omission on the information provided or not provided in this article. You should always consult an immigration lawyer or a registered migration agent to form an informed opinion on your immigration matter.