Western Australia Investor Visa Nomination Requirements

Western Australia has no limitations beyond the Department of Home Affairs requirements for investors emigrating to Australia.

To award a person an Invitation to emigrate. Western Australia will need to be satisfied that the investor and their family intend to live in Western Australia and that their presence in WA will benefit the local community and economy equally.

What does Western Australia nominate now?

Western Australia nominates skilled workers for two visas, the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491). Nomination runs through the State Nominated Migration Program, and the Australian Government allocates the state a set number of places for each program year.

General stream, for occupations on the Western Australian Skilled Migration Occupation List, Schedule 1 or Schedule 2
Graduate stream, for people who studied in Western Australia and hold an occupation on the Graduate Occupation List

Who qualifies under the General stream?

Hold an occupation listed as available for your intended visa subclass on the Western Australian Skilled Migration Occupation List
Meet the Department of Home Affairs requirements for that subclass
Hold at least one year of Australian work experience in the nominated occupation, or a closely related one, gained over the last ten years
Provide an employment contract drafted by the employer where the subclass 190 calls for one, with construction trades exempt
Commit to work, live and settle in Western Australia

Who qualifies under the Graduate stream?

Hold an occupation on the Graduate Occupation List for your intended subclass
Hold a Certificate III or higher gained in Western Australia
Complete at least 87 weeks of full time, on campus study at a registered Western Australian provider
Meet the Home Affairs requirements for the subclass you intend to apply for

What happened to investor and business nomination?

The Department of Home Affairs closed the Business Innovation and Investment Program permanently to new applications. Western Australia now points anyone considering business migration to its Business Migration Centre, and it nominates skilled workers rather than investors.

People who already hold a Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) continue on their existing pathway, and applications lodged before the closure are still being processed.

How does Western Australia invite people to apply?

The Australian Government allocates the places, and invitation rounds run through the program year until those places are filled
A non refundable application fee of A$200 applies
Onshore claims ask for a continuous period of at least three months in Western Australia immediately before the invitation
Applicants have 14 calendar days to seek a review of a decision
The state reserves the right to amend the occupation lists, the ranking and the nomination criteria at any time

Which regional agreements operate in Western Australia?

Western Australia holds five Designated Area Migration Agreements. Each one lets an approved employer fill a role from overseas where a suitable Australian worker is unavailable.

The Western Australia agreement, which covers the whole state including metropolitan Perth
East Kimberley, Pilbara, South West and the Goldfields
Endorsement lasts 12 months from the date it is issued
Decision ready applications are processed in 20 working days

Flexibility & Control

The Business Innovation and Investment Program, which included the 188 visa, is closed to new applications across Australia. Western Australia no longer nominates investors under that program, although applications lodged before it closed are still being processed. This page explains what the state asked of investors, where an existing application stands, and which routes remain open to someone drawn to Perth and the resources economy.

In short

Investor nomination through the 188 program has ended in Western Australia along with the rest of the country.
An application lodged before the closure continues through the Department of Home Affairs.
Western Australia keeps nominating skilled workers for the 190 and 491 visas, and the National Innovation Visa remains open to people with an exceptional record.
Western Australia grows three times faster than Scotland and its people live around four years longer.

Talk to us about what you want to invest in and we will tell you which visa routes genuinely fit, rather than the one that used to.

Did You Know?

Comparing life in Australia to the United Kingdom.

Western Australia Against Scotland

Western Australia has lower unemployment and is growing three times faster than Scotland. Both figures come from the statistics agency on each side.

Measure	Western Australia	Scotland
Unemployment rate	4.3%	5.1%
Population growth in a year	A rise of 2.2%	A rise of 0.7%

Sources: ABS; ONS Australian source

Western Australia Against Scotland: Life Expectancy

People in Western Australia live around four years longer than people in Scotland. Both sides are measured over the same three year period.

Measure	Western Australia	Scotland
Men	81.5 years	77.2 years
Women	85.7 years	81.1 years

Sources: ABS; ONS Australian source

Perth Sees More Sun And Less Rain Than Glasgow

Perth gathers more than twice the sunshine of Glasgow and a third less rainfall. Both columns come from the long term station averages published by each country’s national weather service.