Subclass 188 Closed to New Applicants: What Happens to Applications Already Lodged
The BIIP stopped taking new subclass 188 applications on 31 July 2024. How pre-closure applications are processed, and what withdrawing changes.
The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) closed permanently to new applications on 31 July 2024, and subclass 188 closed with it. If you lodged a subclass 188 application before that date, the closure did not cancel it. The Department of Home Affairs says it will keep processing applications made before 31 July 2024, in line with permanent Migration Program planning levels and skilled visa processing priorities.
For anyone holding a pre-closure application, the live question is narrower than it used to be: keep the application in the queue, or withdraw it and request the Visa Application Charge (VAC) back.
No new subclass 188 applications are being accepted
Investment thresholds that still circulate online for a “new” 188 application describe a program that stopped accepting applications on 31 July 2024. They are not a current entry point, and no new application can be lodged against them.
Pre-closure applications are still being processed
An application lodged before the closure date remains live. Home Affairs processes it under the planning levels and skilled visa processing priorities that apply to the permanent Migration Program. The closure notice does not give a processing timeframe for applications already lodged.
Keeping the application and withdrawing it are different decisions
Keeping the application means it stays in the processing queue. The refund arrangement on the department’s page is tied to withdrawal, not to leaving an application open.
Withdrawing ends the application, and it is the step that can make a VAC refund available — but only where the withdrawal happens on or after 31 July 2024 and the stream is one of those covered. Once an application is withdrawn, there is nothing left for the department to decide.
Which streams can get a VAC refund
Refunds are available for these subclass 188 streams:
- Business Innovation
- Investor
- Significant Investor
- Entrepreneur
Refunds are not available for:
- Business Innovation Extension
- Significant Investor Extension
The same page notes refunds of the Business Talent (subclass 132) VAC for Significant Business History or Venture Capital Entrepreneur stream applicants who withdraw on or after 31 July 2024. Other refund provisions may also apply.
Withdrawing from inside Australia can affect your visa status
If you are in Australia, withdrawing your visa application may affect your visa status. The department raises that before it sets out the refund mechanics, and it is the reason to know where your current status stands before you act rather than after.
How to withdraw and request the refund
Withdrawal happens in ImmiAccount. The refund request is a separate step, made after a formal withdrawal notification arrives.
- Log in to ImmiAccount.
- Open My Payments.
- Select Manage Payments.
- Check the payment status of your VAC. You can request a refund when it shows Credit or Paid.
- Open the actions menu and select Request Refund.
- Choose Voluntary withdrawal of BIIP application from the reason list.
Refund requests have no standard processing time
Home Affairs assesses each refund request individually under the relevant legal authority or administrative rules, and publishes no standard timeframe for deciding one. Plan for an open-ended wait rather than a fixed number of weeks.
Our guide to the subclass 188 withdrawal and refund process covers the ImmiAccount steps in more detail. The department’s BIIP closure and refunds page is the source for the closure date, the stream lists and the withdrawal sequence above.