The government has  launched a new significant investor visa. The New Permanent) (Subclass 888) visa will enable  Wealthy chines to jump the queue and get permanent residency in Australia.

The Australian 888 Investor visa

The number of the subclass of the visa 888 which is a lucky number in china,  indicates who the visa is targeting.

The visa  requirements are a bit relaxed except for the investing part,  where the applicant would need to invest $5 million or more  to be eligible to  get this visa.

The usual age , language  and residency requirement for other visas does not apply to this visa making it easier  to the investor to gain residency irrespective of these factors.

Requirement of the VISA

Complying investments for the Significant Investor visa include:

• Applicants should submit an expression of interest in Skill Select
•applicants should be nominated by a State or Territory government
• Applicants should make investments of at least five million Australian dollars into complying
investments as below.

• Commonwealth, State or Territory government bonds
• Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) regulated managed funds
with a mandate for investing in Australia; and
• direct investment into Australian proprietary companies.

For more details and requirements click here

Visa applicants may hold investments in each of the above investment options and may also
change between complying investments, provided they meet specified reinvestment
requirements

Similar Investor visa schemes  have also been introduced in other countries like UK  , New Zealand , United states, Singapore and Canada.

The previous “Investor (Provisional) (Subclass 162) visa” is closed to new applications from 1 July 2012. Only eligible dependent applicants can be added to an existing application that was lodged on or before 30 June 2012.

Australian Business Investor Stream Visa

The Australian Business Investor Stream (Provisional) visa is a temporary business skills visa that allows successful business people to invest in a new or existing business in Australia.

The Australian Business Investor Stream (Provisional) is valid for four (4) years and visa holders may be eligible to apply for permanent residence after meeting the obligations of their visa.

UK investor visa

The Tier 1 (Investor) category is for high-net-worth individuals who want to make a substantial financial investment in the UK.

Other UK VISAS

• Tier 1 (Exceptional talent)
• Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)
• Tier 1 (Investor)
• Tier 1 (General)
• Tier 1 (Graduate entrepreneur)

US INVESTOR VISA

EB-5 Immigrant Investor

Under the government’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor program, foreign investors can get conditional visas that allow them and their families to live, work and attend school in the U.S.

To qualify for the visa, they must invest at least $1 million in a new or recently created business, or $500,000 for businesses in rural or high-unemployment areas

New Zealand Investor and Investor Plus

The Investor Visa (Investor 2 Category) is an option if you plan to invest a minimum of NZ$1.5 million over a four year period.

If you’re looking to invest $NZ10 million or more then the Investor Plus Visa (Investor 1 Category)is more suitable. Click here to see the difference of these two visas

Links for Australian Visas:

Significant Investor Visa ( 68KB PDF file)
Significant Investor Visa – Frequently Asked Questions ( 90KB PDF file)

Other business Investment visas