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Home > Foreign Limitations
FOREIGN INVESTORS
Limitations
If you are not an Australian citizen and do not have a permanent resident visa for Australia, limitations are placed on the type of property you can purchase and your property purchase needs to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
Foreign investors can apply for FIRB approval to acquire residential real estate in Australia but approval is subject to strict conditions. The following three options are most commonly available to foreign investor purchasers:
- Existing Properties - The foreign investor must hold a temporary resident visa in Australia for more than 12 months and must live in the property (not rent it out) and must sell the property once they leave Australia, their visa expires or they no longer occupy the property.
- New & "off the plan" properties - If a property has not previously been occupied or sold and is part of a "development", or is an "off-the-plan" purchase (regardless of whether construction has commenced), then purchase by a foreign investor may be approved as long as no more than 50% of the properties in the development have been sold to foreign interests.
- Vacant land - Continuous development on the land must commence within 12 months of receiving foreign investment approval.
- Commercial real estate includes vacant land for commercial development and developed commercial property. Only property that is vacant land, an accommodation facility, property acquired by foreign government, developed commercial real estate subject to heritage listing valued at $5M or more and developed commercial real estate whereby the value is greater than $50M require approval.
We will be happy to discuss the options available to you and we will only present property for your consideration that you can legally purchase. We will also assist you with obtaining your FIRB approval by preparing and lodging your FIRB application.
For a more detailed explanation of Australia’s Foreign Investment Policy, visit the Foreign Investment Review Board website at www.firb.gov.au.
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