Can anybody offer advice on applying for a 405 retirement/investor visa?

[MARYROSE02]

A friend in the UK has just emailed me to say he would like to retire to Australia, and I've been doing some research.

 

So far, I've deduced that the 405 visa is:

 

1 Sponsored by the individual states?

2 You need to have a minimum amount of money to bring with you, depending whether you are moving to a state capital or a regional area, $750 000 or $500 000, and a guaranteed income of $50 000 or $30 000, plus adequate medical insurance?

3 This visa does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship? (Initially for four years, and able to apply to renew it for a further period?

4 You can work for up to 20 hours per week?

5 The 410 visa is closed to new applicants?

 

I think he should be able to meet the minimum financial requirements, at least for moving to a regional area, and definitely meet the annual income requirement, with his juicy public service final salary pensions.

 

It's funny for me to be asking for emigration advice, albeit it for a friend, and I am doing my own research, not just throwing my hands in the air and saying 'I don't understand. Can someone help me!"

[ramot]

A friend in the UK has just emailed me to say he would like to retire to Australia, and I've been doing some research.

 

So far, I've deduced that the 405 visa is:

 

1 Sponsored by the individual states?

2 You need to have a minimum amount of money to bring with you, depending whether you are moving to a state capital or a regional area, $750 000 or $500 000, and a guaranteed income of $50 000 or $30 000, plus adequate medical insurance?

3 This visa does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship? (Initially for four years, and able to apply to renew it for a further period?

4 You can work for up to 20 hours per week?

5 The 410 visa is closed to new applicants?

 

I think he should be able to meet the minimum financial requirements, at least for moving to a regional area, and definitely meet the annual income requirement, with his juicy public service final salary pensions.

 

It's funny for me to be asking for emigration advice, albeit it for a friend, and I am doing my own research, not just throwing my hands in the air and saying 'I don't understand. Can someone help me!"

 

 

We luckily are on the old self funded 410 retirement visa, it finished I think at least 7 years ago.Know several on the 405 visa, and most are giving up and returning as it just idoesn't make sense long term to have so much money tied up. You have to be totally self funded, (no Medicare), you do get interest on your invested money, unless it's changed you get 250.00 back after 4 years, but the balance either 500.000 or 250.000 is kept by the state till you leave or die. As far as I know you renew it every 4 years, cost to renew $11.000 possibly more now? Not sure if you are correct about the level of annual income required. It's possible you have to prove you have had your funds for 2 years? It's not for the faint hearted, I think you have to have another large possibly the same amount again to be able to buy a property.

I don't claim to be an expert, this is only my limited knowledge.

[Marisawright]

it just idoesn't make sense long term to have so much money tied up. You have to be totally self funded, (no Medicare), you do get interest on your invested money, unless it's changed you get 250.00 back after 4 years, but the balance either 500.000 or 250.000 is kept by the state till you leave or die.

 

So basically you're buying the visa with the $250,000 or $500,000 because you're never going to see that money again? Wow.

[ramot]

So basically you're buying the visa with the $250,000 or $500,000 because you're never going to see that money again? Wow.

 

Yes as far as I know, which is why several people I know are giving up and leaving, so they have the money back, and don't pay out to renew every 4 years.

The old 410 visa has none of those conditions and we renew every 10 years for very little cost.

[toOZ2012]

I looked into this a while ago for a friend. The asset test of $750k or $500k is in addition to the required designated investment of $750k or $500k but you don't have to invest the assets or move them over. I believe the income requirement is $65k/year. All of this for an insulting 4 year *tourist* visa. If he has a lot more money ($5Mil+) then look into significant investor visas - which is practically extortion. I think all these *investor* visas are for the wealthy Chinese and Indian nationals.

 

I believe, NZ will let him in permanently for circa $1.5Mil kiwi coins and then he can jump ship after 4 years by acquiring NZ citizenship.

 

If he is single then it is probably easier to try and meet a nice aussie lady or lad

 

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/405-

You must have made a designated investment of at least AUD750 000 in your name (or in the names of you and your partner), in the state or territory in which you have been sponsored. The funds for the designated investment are in addition to your asset requirements.

[Alan Collett]

So basically you're buying the visa with the $250,000 or $500,000 because you're never going to see that money again? Wow.

 

 

The beneficiaries of the deceased's estate will secure that capital upon the demise of the 405 visa holder - it is a Designated Investment, which is in essence a loan to the sponsoring State or Territory Government which pays interest every 6 months.

 

Remember also that the 405 visa is a temporary residency visa, so has tax advantages attaching.

 

Best regards.

[SPRINTER]

We are in a similar position at the moment in that we are looking at various possibilities for a move down under. All the info the original poster has found is easily available on the government websites, but when you ask specific questions the answer is usually none to clear and what I call loose. Specifics like what health check is required, what interest is paid on the lump sum investment etc. usually receive an unclear answer. We are at present looking at a 12 month visa (600) and whether that could be renewed every year, again the question wasn't answered.

It would be nice to be able to find info where it states you need x.y.z. to be granted a visa, but so far have been unlucky or am I looking to deep for things that are not needed and the visa is comparatively easy to get providing you meet the basic requirements.

I suppose I am one of those people who likes to gather as much info as possible in order to make a decision, we have lived in various countries and been through the process a few times so we are not just day dreamers. If I find any more useful info, I will post on this forum as I find it one of the most interesting and useful sites I have come across.

[Alan Collett]

Hi Sprinter.

 

I'll send a PM to you with a link to summary requirements from a page on the GM Investors website.

 

Hope it is of interest.

 

Best regards.

[toOZ2012]

The asset test of $750k or $500k is in addition to the required designated investment of $750k or $500k but you don't have to invest the assets or move them over.

 

Correcting my previous post - the assets should be ready to transfer to Australia.

 

Out of curiosity - do applications for regional Australia go through without hassle if the investor has just $1Mil AUD ($500k + $500k)? What happens to existing 405 holders if it is no longer available?

[Alan Collett]

Correcting my previous post - the assets should be ready to transfer to Australia.

 

Out of curiosity - do applications for regional Australia go through without hassle if the investor has just $1Mil AUD ($500k + $500k)? What happens to existing 405 holders if it is no longer available?

 

 

If the applicant has the net assets s/he will be granted the visa.

 

Note that the Designated Investment for a renewal 405 visa application is somewhat less than is required for the initial 405 visa application.

 

Best regards.

[mudcrab]

On 05/08/2015 at 6:46 PM, SPRINTER said:

We are in a similar position at the moment in that we are looking at various possibilities for a move down under. All the info the original poster has found is easily available on the government websites, but when you ask specific questions the answer is usually none to clear and what I call loose. Specifics like what health check is required, what interest is paid on the lump sum investment etc. usually receive an unclear answer. We are at present looking at a 12 month visa (600) and whether that could be renewed every year, again the question wasn't answered.

It would be nice to be able to find info where it states you need x.y.z. to be granted a visa, but so far have been unlucky or am I looking to deep for things that are not needed and the visa is comparatively easy to get providing you meet the basic requirements.

I suppose I am one of those people who likes to gather as much info as possible in order to make a decision, we have lived in various countries and been through the process a few times so we are not just day dreamers. If I find any more useful info, I will post on this forum as I find it one of the most interesting and useful sites I have come across.

This is an old thread so I don't know whether Sprinter is still around on here.  One way to find out!!   I believe you can reapply on the 12 month visa (600).  I have relatives doing just that yearly.

I've been trying to get my mind around the Investor Retirement Visa (405).  To be honest, I am not sure anyway if I have enough funds to do this, and especially as I imagine that medical insurance premiums are very high.  But it just seems a bit bonkers to me as you don't get much in return.  If Medicare was thrown in, it would be a different matter.

I am currently on a lowly eVisitor visa (651) and suspect that will do for the time being.  As my "main home" is in another country, I need to check on that fairly regularly so departing every 3 months seems to be the way to go for me currently.

[SPRINTER]

We now have our 405 visa, must admit it was a bit of a paperwork chase, not helped by living in Switzerland. Alan Collett did most of the work for us, no problems there. Hoping to move over in June, we are lucky we have already found a house that suits us. The State investment is paying around 1.8% interest, not a fortune but better than most UK interest rates. Dealing with the authorities here has been friendly so far, and questions have been answered in plain English. If you need any info PM me and I will try to help, but remember we are new so certainly don't have the answers to everything.

[mudcrab]

Thanks so much for updating. 

[toOZ2012]

On 4/1/2017 at 15:19, SPRINTER said:

We now have our 405 visa, must admit it was a bit of a paperwork chase, not helped by living in Switzerland. Alan Collett did most of the work for us, no problems there. Hoping to move over in June, we are lucky we have already found a house that suits us. The State investment is paying around 1.8% interest, not a fortune but better than most UK interest rates. Dealing with the authorities here has been friendly so far, and questions have been answered in plain English. If you need any info PM me and I will try to help, but remember we are new so certainly don't have the answers to everything.

If you don't mind me asking, which state did you end up in? Metro or Regional? Congratulations on your move here.

For those of you looking for good health insurance on a 405 visa, HCF is a good choice - for about $200/month the policy is the same as the people on 457 (work visas) get

 

[SPRINTER]

We went to SA regional, (slightly cheaper) still waiting for our container, but at least it is in Australia, just waiting for the customs to do their bit and see how much actually gets here.PM me if I can help in any way.