On September 10, 2016, the government launched an ambitious new visa category, 188 start-up Visa, which aims to attract the world's best and smartest entrepreneurs to Australia!
Visa introduction: 188 E entrepreneurs temporary visa overview, application conditions and processing cycle
More than a year later, the visa has attracted unanimous criticism from business leaders and immigration lawyers, because it is too unrealistic!
In a related report published yesterday, StartupAus Crossroads, the authors point out that this visa category does not attract any eligible applicants at all! The report cited official immigration data to show that there was an application submitted on August 18, 2017, but did not know what the results were, which is also the only application!
The report directly recommends that the government overhaul the visa, which has only been introduced for more than a year, and change and simplify the eligibility criteria for applications.
Immigration lawyer Glenn Pereira said the extremely low number of applications suggests the difficulty of the visa is conceivable and sets a high threshold for entrepreneurs in the rest of the world. He has formally submitted an opinion to the government outlining the actual issue of the visa, hoping to change the structure and requirements of the visa.
It is believed that the restrictions and requirements on funds are the biggest reason why 1818E cannot be implemented. Although the amount of investment is "only" A $ two hundred thousand, there are strict restrictions on the entities that provide investment to applicants, and the following institutions are required to meet the requirements:
- Federal and state, territorial government agencies;
- A publicly funded research and development institution established under federal or state, territorial law;
- A venture capital institution registered under the Venture Capital Act 2002;
- Higher education institutions
After discussing with state and territorial governments, the, Glenn Pereira found that it was almost impossible to get these institutions to give up two hundred thousand. The most generous of them was Queensland, but they could only give one hundred thousand. So many entrepreneurs don't know where to find Australian venture capital.
Trump's cancellation of American entrepreneurs' visas was an opportunity for Australia to attract many affected start-ups, but it is still difficult for them to reach Australia.
He thinks start-ups can bring their own money. "allowing the company to pay for itself will solve a lot of the visa problems," he said. Of course, this also needs to be balanced, with overseas investments having to be injected into start-ups interested in listing in Australia. Startup Aus Crossroads recommends adding angel investors to the list of sources of funding.
The report also questioned the costs and time costs of applying for 188E. "assuming that the applicant meets all the conditions, TA will have to pay at least $3670 and wait for an unknown length of time (a reasonable estimate of 9 months or more) to know if the application will pass." This in the high-speed development of the entrepreneurial environment, for a condition of high-quality entrepreneurs, there is no attraction. As a result, Australia's only advantage is that PR, is back in a dead loop.
Alex McCauley, chief executive of StartupAus, also believes that the current Australian entrepreneur visa has many drawbacks and does not mean much to entrepreneurs.
As early as July this year, Alex SUN, a professional immigration consultant at NewStars Melbourne, had dented the illusion of a so-called "low-investment" entrepreneur starting a visa: would such a low-investment immigrant not go to Plan B? Practical interpretation: how successful it is to apply for foreign students!
The fact that only one application has been introduced for more than a year shows that the new visa is basically "scrapped". Since everyone has proposed a comprehensive reform, will the Government act soon?.
