Steve Elliott Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Hi All I thought now is timely to post a general update on business skills visas, in particular, the 188. Some States and Territories have started to re-open their respective programs and have indicated they have been given a limited number of spaces as part of their 2020-2021 allocation. The eligibility criteria at the DHA level remains unchanged (for now). You are probably aware that the application is a two/three stage process initially requiring you check your eligibility against both DHA criteria and also criteria of each State and Territory. Everyone must be aware of the requirements for each state in terms of meeting their criteria.If you have already submitted an EOI you need to ensure that your nominated state is accepting valid EOI's currently in the system or requires a new EOI to be submitted. You should also refer to the respective websites to see if your preferred State or Territory has changed their process or has introduced additional requirements as a result of the Covid 19 crisis. For example Victoria has introduced an "Economic Recovery Support form" where applicants are required to address how their business or investment will contribute to Victoria's economic recovery. I suspect that demand for thee visas will continue to exceed supply so good responses which can demonstrate research and thought may well assist your application stand out from the crowd. https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/migrate/business-investor-visas/supporting-documentation-and-forms-for-business-visas Given high demand, and limited spaces valid EOI's will not guarantee a nomination. Typically you will have to be invited. Thus it is my opinion that you should put in a great deal of thought in composing your EOI so as to present the best case possible to improve your chances of receiving an application. You should also ensure that your have all the required documents ready to submit within the 14 days of application and also be mindful of the support documents and evidence you will need to submit a valid application within 60 days of nomination. I believe the number of places available will be outstripped by demand so be prepared. The last thing you want to do is to lose your nomination through lack of preparation. States and Territories will not look favourably on applicants who waste nominations through lack of preparation. Also, as I have previously mentioned in another post, a review of business visas was conducted in February this year. There has been much speculation as to what may result from this review, however we need to simply meet the criteria which applies at the time of application. The rest is pure speculation. If anyone has any questions, please let me know and I will try my best to assist. Have a great weekend 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NettyHodgy Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Hi Steve. May i ask a question? We received our state invites for the ACT back in May but due to COVID our application was halted. I hear things are now begin to move again, is there anyway of requesting for our application to be expedited and allocated a case worker. Once allocated a case worker roughly how long does the process then take? Thank you in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Elliott Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 Hi Netty Did you actually lodge a visa application? I know that sounds like a dumb question but the invitation would come from the ACT as they are your nominator. When you say "halted", what do you mean exactly? Assuming you made a valid visa application, I doubt there would be any grounds your case could be expediated unless (I'm guessing here) you could demonstrate a clear benefit to Australia which is directly related to the Covid recovery. Even then, it would need to be exceptional. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone is in the same boat and there are many hundreds, even thousands of business visas which have been in the system for well over 18 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asif Shaikh Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Hi Steve Thanks for updates. What about lodged application status, they are processes pending applications on priority? I have submitted my application on 30th December 2018 but still not confirmation from CO. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aswell Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 I just recently upload my EOI for 188a and just invited to apply by BSMQ last Friday. Is normally state government will approve applicant’s application if the document is sufficient? Or they just simply invite everyone then refuse a lot application because they believe those application is not good enough. I was running my business in Australia under a working visa, sadly, I back to my home country for long holiday just before the pandemic. At this stage I was unable to return to Australia. Luckily I have good employees still help me running business well at moment, and I still managing my remotely. it is bit concern me that the processing time of 188A visa, is there any chance can speed up considering my circumstances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NettyHodgy Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 7 hours ago, Steve Elliott said: Hi Netty Did you actually lodge a visa application? I know that sounds like a dumb question but the invitation would come from the ACT as they are your nominator. When you say "halted", what do you mean exactly? Assuming you made a valid visa application, I doubt there would be any grounds your case could be expediated unless (I'm guessing here) you could demonstrate a clear benefit to Australia which is directly related to the Covid recovery. Even then, it would need to be exceptional. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone is in the same boat and there are many hundreds, even thousands of business visas which have been in the system for well over 18 months. Thank you Steve. Yes we submitted our full application in May but as yet it's still just showing "received". I was hoping you wasn't going to say another 18 months I guess we just sit and wait this out. Thank you again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Elliott Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 HI Netty. I'm only guessing but given the business program was effectively doubled in size last night's budget along with a statement that business visas are being treated as a priority, it is conceivable that additional resources may be deployed to address the huge numbers of applications already in the pipeline. We can only hope! It will also be very interesting to learn how the whole program will be tweaked moving forward! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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