An issue that keeps coming up is how does a person of 45 emigrate to Australia, given that this is the cut off age for a skilled visa application.
The good news is that there are several visa paths that allow people over 45 to immigrate to Australia.
The condition, of course, is that you meet the all the requirements of the visa you’d like to apply for.
Here we’ll briefly take a look at your Australian visa options if you are older than 45:
- Business Innovation Stream (Provisional) Visa
- Business Talent Visa
- Parent Visas
BUSINESS INNOVATION STREAM (PROVISIONAL) VISA (SUBCLASS 188)
The 188 visa is a four-year provisional visa. As a provisional visa it is the first step towards permanent residency. The requirements to meet under the subclass 188 visa will depend on the stream under which you apply:
- Business Innovation stream: You want to establish, develop and manage a new or existing business in Australia. To apply for this visa you will need to meet a business ownership requirement.
- Investor stream: You want to make a designated investment of at least AU$1.5 million in an Australian state or territory, and maintain business and investment activity in Australia.
To apply for these visas you must have a state nomination and you must be under the age of 55. There are however age waivers which may apply in certain cases.
BUSINESS TALENT VISA (SUBCLASS 132)
The 132 visa allows you to establish a new business or develop an existing business in Australia. It has two streams:
- Significant Business History stream:
For high-calibre business owners or part-owners who want to do business in Australia.
- Venture Capital Entrepreneur stream: For people who have sourced venture capital funding from a member of the Australian Venture Capital Association Limited (ACVAL).
As with the above 188 visas you must have a state nomination and must be under the age of 55 to apply for these visas as well.
PARENT VISAS
There are several visas available to the parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents.
- Parent visa (subclass 103): You must apply as a retiree.
- Aged Parent visa (subclass 804): You must be older than 65 to apply for this visa.
- Contributory Aged Parent visas (subclasses 864 and 884): You must be older than 65 to apply for this visa but is more expensive than the 804 visa because it has a much shorter waiting time.
- Contributory Parent visas (subclasses 143 and 173): You must apply as a retiree but is more expensive than the 103 visa because it has a much shorter waiting time
The other requirements for these visas range from meeting the balance-of-family test and having a sponsor to meeting the health and character requirements.
If you are older than 45 and would like to know if you qualify for any of the visas above, please send me an email to david@pathwaylawyers.com to see if we can assist you - David Dadic
