Business, Investor, Parent and Other Visa Classes: Home Loan Rules in Australia

The 188 Program Is Closed, What That Means for Lending

The Business Innovation and Investment Program, covering the Business Innovation, Investor, Significant Investor, Premium Investor, and Entrepreneur streams of the subclass 188 visa, closed permanently to new applications on 31 July 2024. If you already hold a 188 visa, nothing changes for your borrowing rights: you remain a temporary resident for lending and FIRB purposes, subject to the same rules as any other temporary visa holder, including the established dwelling ban covered in our FIRB approval and fees guide.

Existing 188 holders who meet their investment and residency requirements can transition to the permanent subclass 888 visa, at which point they move into full permanent resident lending territory: no FIRB, no established dwelling restriction, and access to the same LVRs as any citizen.

The National Innovation Visa (858): The New Pathway

The National Innovation visa replaced the Global Talent visa in December 2024 and is now the primary route for exceptionally talented investors, entrepreneurs, and specialists. It is invitation-only: applicants submit an Expression of Interest, need a nominator who is a prominent figure in their field, and generally must demonstrate the capacity to earn above the Fair Work High Income Threshold. A four-tier priority system introduced for 2026 weighs applicants more favourably if their work touches national innovation priorities such as advanced research, deep tech, biotech, clean energy, or critical infrastructure.

Parent Visas: Four Very Different Lending Outcomes

Parent visas are where the biggest gap between visa subclasses shows up. The temporary and permanent pathways lead to completely different lending situations, and the permanent pathway itself splits into a fast, expensive contributory route and an extremely slow non-contributory one.

The non-contributory Parent visa (103/804) has a much lower application charge but an estimated queue of around 30 years, which exceeds the practical planning horizon for most applicants and their lenders. For clients weighing the two permanent pathways, the contributory route's higher upfront cost is, in practical terms, the only way most applicants will see permanent residency and full lending rights within their lifetime.

Working Holiday Visas: Technically Eligible, Rarely Funded

Working Holiday visa holders (subclass 417 and 462) are, in theory, able to apply for FIRB approval and purchase eligible property the same as any other temporary resident. In practice, mainstream Australian banks almost universally decline home loan applications from Working Holiday visa holders. The core issue is not income, many working holiday makers are employed and earning, it is visa duration: a 417 or 462 visa runs for 12 months at a time (extendable to a maximum of three years across further stages), which is far short of the multi-year certainty a lender wants before committing to a 25 or 30 year loan.

Some non-bank and specialist lenders will consider personal loans or short-term finance for working holiday makers, but a mainstream residential mortgage is very rarely achievable on this visa class alone.

Comparing Lending Access Across These Pathways

The pattern across all of these visa classes is consistent: the closer a visa sits to permanent residency, the closer lending terms move toward those available to citizens. Where a visa is temporary by design, whether that is a working holiday visa, a bridging status while a National Innovation application progresses, or the Sponsored Parent visa, lenders price in that uncertainty through FIRB requirements, higher deposits, and closer income scrutiny.