The Australian Emigration Experts

Permanent residency on arrival with no points test and no age cap

For entrepreneurs, founders, innovators and investors, the National Innovation Visa is now the premier route to Australia.

Introduced to replace the former business and investment visas, it provides permanent residency on arrival. There is no points test, no upper age limit and no requirement to hold a specific qualification.

From day one, you and your family enjoy the freedom to live, work, invest and retire anywhere in Australia, with access to Medicare, education and an AAA-rated economy with no inheritance tax.

Who does this route suit?

This is the ideal option for successful business owners, investors and senior professionals who would not qualify under the points-tested system, whether by age, occupation or preference.

It is equally attractive to those who simply prefer certainty. Permanent residency on arrival means no provisional stage.

If you have built, backed or scaled a business, you may be eligible to emigrate regardless of age.

Our experts are ready to discuss your plans in more detail.

The Australian Government has set aside 30,375 places for Skilled Independent visas.

This represents a slight decrease from the previous year’s allocation of 32,100 places. The reduction mainly reflects the closure of the New Zealand stream within the subclass 189 (Skilled, Independent) visa, introducing a new pathway directly to citizenship for eligible Special Category Visa holders.

A job offer may lead to permanent residency

Employer sponsorship is the fastest-growing route into Australia, as Australia continue to limit the number of visas that provide permanent residency on arrival.

A benefit of the employer sponsorship route is that, whereas the points-tested visas ask you to compete in a global recruitment pool, the employer-sponsored visas ask only that an approved Australian business wants your skills. Once it does, the visa process may move quite quickly.

Four visas make up the family:

• The 482 Skills in Demand visa is the workhorse, a temporary visa of up to four years with a built-in route to permanent residency.
• The 186 Employer Nomination Scheme grants permanent residency directly.
• The 494 covers regional employers, and the DAMA agreements unlock generous concessions in designated regions nationwide.

Who qualifies

The core requirements are refreshingly simple:

• A genuine offer from an approved Australian sponsor
• An occupation on the relevant skilled list
• Relevant skills, qualifications and usually two years of experience
• A salary meeting the applicable income threshold

The 482 has three streams:

• The Specialist Skills stream serves high earners in almost any occupation.
• The Core Skills stream covers the mainstream professions and trades.
• The Essential Skills stream addresses lower-paid but critical roles, particularly in care.

Crucially for many of our clients, DAMA agreements can relax the age limit, English requirements and salary thresholds. In some regions, sponsorship remains available up to age 55, offering a lifeline to those the points system has left behind.

Who does this route suit?

Employer sponsorship suits, in short, those who do not qualify for an independent skilled worker visa that provides permanent residency on arrival. 

Many of our clients use employer sponsorship as a bridge, arriving on a 482 and converting to permanent residency once their two years with the sponsor are complete.

Our experts will assess your profile, identify the stream that suits you best, and guide you from your first enquiry to permanent residency.

For those whose heart already lives in Australia

If your partner is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, the partner visa is your route home together.

It is one of the few Australian visas with no occupation lists, no points test and no age limit. What it requires is evidence of your relationship in great detail.

Married couples, de facto partners and, in many cases, fiancés can all apply. Same sex relationships are recognised on exactly the same terms.

Dependent children can be included in the application, and once the permanent stage is granted, you enjoy full access to Medicare, unrestricted work rights and the five-year clock toward Australian citizenship.

Couples who have been together for more than three years, or two years with a child of the relationship, are often granted the permanent visa immediately.

Visa Application Current charges:

• Primary applicant: AUD 11,710, covering both the temporary and permanent stages
• Additional applicant aged 18 or over: AUD 5,860
• Additional applicant under 18: AUD 2,935

The Department of Home Affairs expects applications to be decision-ready at lodgement. Applicants may receive only one opportunity to provide further information, making professional preparation more valuable than ever.

Our experts have guided couples through every conceivable circumstance for nearly three decades, and we would be delighted to guide yours.

Reuniting generations under the Australian sun

Few things in life compare with having children and then watching your grandchildren grow up.

The parent visas exist for exactly that purpose. If you have a child who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, there is a route for you to join them permanently.

The choice of stream is a genuine strategic decision, balancing cost against time, and it deserves careful expert advice.

Permanent parent visas bring full residence rights, access to Medicare, freedom to travel, and the ability to spend every school concert, birthday and Christmas with your loved ones.

Who does this route suit

Parent visas suit parents and grandparents whose children have made Australia home and who want more than an annual visit.

They also now serve holders of the old retirement visas, who benefit from a dedicated pathway to permanent residency through the parent streams, with several requirements waived.

Whether you seek a permanent move or an extended stay while a permanent application matures, our experts will map the fastest, most affordable route to your family and manage every step of it.

Retirement in Australia remains possible with the right advice

Australia closed its dedicated retirement visas, the Investor Retirement 405 and the Retirement 410, to new applicants some years ago. What replaced them is not a single visa but a set of routes with no upper age limit, each suited to a different kind of retiree.

The routes still open

Three pathways carry retirees to Australia today:

• The National Innovation Visa, for those with a distinguished business, investment or professional track record, grants permanent residency on arrival with no age cap and no points test
• The parent visas, for those whose children have settled in Australia, offer permanent residency through the contributory stream
• The partner visa is for those whose spouse or partner holds Australian citizenship or permanent residency

The numbers that matter

Complete family emigration solutions through the investment-led route start from around AUD 650K, with most clients completing the move within twelve to twenty-four months of first contact.

Once permanent residency is granted, the benefits are considerable:

• Freedom to purchase land and property
• Access to Medicare
• No inheritance tax on your estate
• Tax-effective structuring within an AAA-rated economy
• Dual citizenship permitted

Dependent children up to the age of 23 may be included in your application, and we work with regulated advisers on pension transfers, including guidance on the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme.

Who does this route suit

These pathways suit successful people in their forties, fifties, sixties and beyond who thought their chance to live in Australia had passed, whether drawn by grandchildren, sunshine or the quality of life that consistently ranks among the best in the world.

Our friendly experts would be delighted to explore the possibilities with you.

States and territories have specific nomination allocations within the Migration Program for the Skilled, Nominated (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visa categories, as well as for the Business Innovation and Investors Programme.

These jurisdictions assess applicants against their unique criteria, focusing on meeting local workforce and economic development needs.