Victoria Investor Visas: The Current Position

The Business Innovation and Investment Program, which included the 188 visa, is closed to new applications across Australia. Victoria no longer nominates investors under that program, although the Department of Home Affairs continues to process applications lodged before it closed. This page explains what Victoria asked of investors, where an existing application stands, and what remains open to someone who wants to build a business in Melbourne or regional Victoria.

In short

Victoria stopped taking investor nominations when the national program closed, and no state can reopen it on its own.
Applications lodged before the closure are still being processed.
Victoria continues to nominate skilled workers for the 190 and 491 visas, and the National Innovation Visa stays open to people with an exceptional record.
Melbourne holds three universities in the world top two hundred against one in the North West of England, and ranks third in the world for liveability.

Tell us what you want to build and where. We will set out the routes that remain open and what each one asks of you.

What does Victoria nominate now?

Victoria nominates skilled professionals for two visas, the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491). The Australian Government allocates Victoria a set number of places for each program year, and Victoria fills them by invitation.

Submit or update an Expression of Interest through SkillSelect
Submit a Registration of Interest for Victorian nomination
Wait to be selected, since Victoria invites rather than accepting direct applications

Who can apply for subclass 190 nomination?

Be living in Victoria or overseas, and be committed to living and working in Victoria
Have your Registration of Interest selected
Be under 45 years of age
Hold at least Competent English
Hold a valid skills assessment in an occupation on the eligible list for the subclass 190
Score at least 65 points on the Australian Government points test in your Expression of Interest

Applicants already in Australia must be living in Victoria.

Who can apply for subclass 491 nomination?

Be living offshore, or living and working in regional Victoria
Be committed to living and working in regional Victoria
Have your Registration of Interest selected
Be under 45 years of age
Hold at least Competent English and a valid skills assessment on the eligible list
Score at least 65 points on the points test

The subclass 491 runs for five years, and holders may become eligible for the subclass 191 permanent visa after three years of living and working in regional Victoria.

What happened to investor and business nomination?

The Australian Government closed the Business Innovation and Investment Program to new applications, so Victoria accepts no new nominations for the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188).

Victoria continues to nominate for the subclass 188 Extension stream and for all streams of the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888), so anyone already holding a provisional visa keeps a route to permanent residence.

What does Victoria ask of an existing provisional holder?

Victorian nominated subclass 188 holders from the earlier nomination period are asked to have lived in Victoria for at least 46 weeks a year across the two years before applying for subclass 888 nomination
Holders who cannot meet that requirement can apply for subclass 188 Extension nomination to gain more time
Victoria reports a high number of applications that miss its nomination requirements, so checking the residence record early matters

Where can a founder find support in Victoria?

Victoria funds and hosts a deep network for founders and researchers, which matters when a business case supports a skilled or innovation application.

LaunchVic, the state agency backing the Victorian startup ecosystem
The Melbourne Accelerator Program, which supports early stage founders
Translating Research at Melbourne, which helps move university research toward commercial use
Hatch Quarter, which works with founders arriving from overseas

Flexibility & Control

Each year, the Australian federal and state governments review the 188 visa programme to ensure it delivers the best possible outcomes for Australia. Where deemed necessary changes are introduced without advanced notice. State governments open and close the investor visa stream within their respective jurisdictions as deem necessary to meet the local economic objectives.

That said, once an investor secures an invitation to emigrate (State Nomination), any future changes to the emigration policy will not affect their case.

Did You Know?

Comparing life in Australia to the United Kingdom.

Victoria Against North West England

Victoria is growing faster and holds more of the world’s leading universities than the North West of England. Population growth comes from each statistics agency, and the university counts come from one global ranking.

Measure	Victoria	North West England
Population growth in a year	A rise of 1.7%	Under 0.8%
Universities in the world top 200	3	1
Highest ranked university	22nd, Melbourne	40th, Manchester

Sources: ABS; ONS; QS World University Rankings Australian source

Victoria Against North West England: Life Expectancy

People in Victoria live several years longer than people in the North West of England. Both sides are measured over the same three year period.

Measure	Victoria	North West England
Men	81.5 years	77.9 years
Women	85.4 years	81.9 years

Sources: ABS; ONS Australian source

Melbourne Runs Warmer Than Manchester, Winter And Summer

Daytime temperatures in Melbourne sit well above those in Manchester all year round. The national weather service in each country publishes these averages from decades of station records.