The Government is currently discussing what changes should be made to the Significant Investment Visa (“SIV”) regime. Statistics indicate that up until 31 January 2015 there have been 2,075 lodged expressions of interest, which has resulted in 651 visas being issued. This has raised approximately $3.255 billion in funding.
The Government has proposed the following changes to the SIV regime:
- Austrade to be given the responsibility to oversee all SIV applications, instead of the State Government
- Investments in Government Bonds no longer being considered a “complying investment”
- The $5 million to be invested in 3 different categories, opposed to the current 1 category. This change has been proposed to encourage applicants to invest into more active areas of the economy which include venture capital and small emerging firms.
- Changes to residency requirements for SIV applicants. The following proposed requirements must be satisfied in order for individuals to be eligible for permanent SIV:
- Primary applicant must reside in Australia for 40 days per year OR the secondary applicant (spouse) to reside in Australian for at least 180 days per year;
- No residency requirement for secondary applicants
- Residency requirement will be per year and calculated cumulatively over the four year period:
– 160 days over 4 years for primary applicant
– 720 days over 4 years for secondary applicant
If you need any further information in regards to the article above, contact the team at The Quinn Group on 02 9223 9166 or submit an online enquiry.
