Australia Significant Investor Visa (closed); National Innovation visa (subclass 858)

No. The Significant Investor Visa and the wider Business Innovation and Investment Program stopped accepting new applications on 31 July 2024. There is no passive-investment visa for Australia today. The current talent route, the National Innovation visa, cannot be obtained with money.

It was abolished. The government announced the end of the program in early 2024, citing weak economic benefits and money-laundering risk, and closed the BIIP to new lodgements on 31 July 2024. The SIV required AUD 5,000,000 into complying investments and no longer exists for new applicants.

No. The subclass 858 National Innovation visa is an invitation-only permanent visa for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional achievement. You submit an expression of interest and must be invited. There is no investment threshold, and capital does not improve your chances.

The visa application charge starts at around AUD 4,985 for the main applicant, with additional charges for family members and a possible second charge where English requirements are not met. That is a government fee, not an investment, and paying it does not entitle you to the visa. You must first be invited.

It looks unlikely in the near term. The opposition floated reviving it before the May 2025 election, but Labor won that election in a landslide and has shown no intention of restoring it. Treat any 2026 claim that the SIV is back as false unless confirmed by the Department of Home Affairs.

Applications lodged before 31 July 2024 are generally being processed under the rules in force when they were lodged, though large backlogs remain. Those who withdrew on or after 31 July 2024 may be entitled to a refund of the visa application charge. This does not help anyone who had not already applied.

Yes. The Department has provided refunds of the visa application charge for BIIP applicants who choose to withdraw, with the refund process running from late 2024. Specifics depend on your stream and lodgement date, so check the official closure-and-refunds guidance and take migration advice.

Yes. It is granted as permanent residence, and permanent residents can generally apply for citizenship after four years of lawful residence, including at least twelve months as a permanent resident, subject to presence, character, and English requirements.

Citizenship requires four years of residence with no more than twelve months total absence and no more than ninety days absent in the final year. Permanent residence itself carries a five-year travel facility that must be renewed to keep re-entry rights, so Australia expects real presence, not a flag of convenience.

Employer sponsorship through the Skills in Demand visa and permanent employer-sponsored streams, the points-tested skilled visas such as subclass 189, 190, and 491, or the National Innovation visa if you have genuinely exceptional achievements. Each is merit or sponsorship based. None is a passive capital buy-in.

Heavily. Australia taxes residents on worldwide income at rates reaching the high forties with the Medicare levy, taxes capital gains as income with a holding discount, and runs robust anti-deferral rules on offshore companies and trusts. Coordinate with Australian tax counsel before establishing residence, because the tax cost can dwarf any visa fee.

New Zealand reopened its Active Investor Plus visa, Singapore's Global Investor Programme is open at a far higher commitment, and several European and Caribbean programs still offer residence or citizenship for capital. We can model those against your mobility, tax, and family goals; Australia simply is not on that menu anymore.

The old business streams of the BIIP are closed. Some states run their own nomination settings and entrepreneur-oriented pathways tied to genuine job creation and innovation rather than passive investment, but these are narrow, conditions change frequently, and none replicates a buy-in visa. Verify any state route directly before relying on it.