This visa category is designed for retired people who have significant assets and want to spend their retirement years in Australia.

Applicants for the investor retirement visa must be financially self-sufficient so that their existence in Australia will be at no cost to the Australian taxpayer.

Holders of this visa do not have access to any social welfare services in Australia and must have private health insurance for the duration of their stay in the country.

This visa will let you:

• work in Australia for up to 20 hours per week,
• travel in and out of Australia any number of times as long as your visa is valid,
• live in Australia for four (4) years,
• have your spouse accompany you to Australia.

Duration

This visa provides all successful applicants with a temporary visa, valid for four (4) years. This visa does not lead to permanent residency in Australia (or to Australian citizenship), however a holder may apply to remain for another four year period after the expiry of the current visa.

Eligibility Criteria

There are several qualifying criteria for this visa subclass.

Age

The applicant must be 55 years or older. There is no age restriction for the dependent spouse of the main applicant.

Dependent Family Members

Investor retirement visa applicants must have any other dependents, other than spouse.

To be eligible for the investor retirement visa, the main applicant must:

• Have State or Territory Government Sponsorship (Please note that New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory are not participating in this program).
• Make an investment in a government treasury bond in that state or territory;
• Have sufficient assets to ensure they can support themselves in Australia, and;
• Maintain private health insurance for the duration of their visa.

Financial Requirements

Migration to Australia under the investor retirement visa requires applicants to be sponsored by a state/territory government in Australia. This visa provides incentives to encourage people to settle in regional/low growth areas in those states and territories that offer sponsorship.

If the applicant intends to live in a regional area of Australia they must have at least:

• AUD $500,000 assets available for transfer to Australia AND;
• AUD $50,000 net annual income from investment or pension rights;
• Furthermore the applicant must invest AUD$ 500,000 in state/territory government bonds if they intend to live in a regional area.

If the visa holder intends to live in a non-regional area of Australia they must have at least:

• AUD $750,000 assets available for transfer to Australia AND;
• AUD $65,000 net annual income from investment or pension rights;
• Furthermore the applicant must invest AUD$ 750,000 in state/territory government bonds if they intend to live in a non-regional area.

Please note that investor retirement visa applicants must have held all of these assets for two years before applying, unless the assets relate to inheritance, superannuation, or pension rights.

Health & Character

Australia has strict health and character requirements. The same has to be met before grant of visa. People attempting to migrate to Australia on the Australian Investor Retirement Visa will be required to:

• Undergo a medical examination and chest x-ray undertaken by one of a panel of doctors selected by the Australian authorities, and;
• Obtain police certificates for all countries in which they have lived for more than 12 months in the 10 years leading up to the application.

Processing Times

The current processing time for migration to Australia under the Australian investor retirement visa is 4-6 months from the start of the process.