Australian business visa conditions: 8557 complying investment and 8106 business activity (2026)
If your Australian visa carries condition 8106, you may work in Australia only where the work is relevant to the business, or the tasks, you specified in your visa application. If it carries condition 8557, you must hold the complying investment concerned for the whole of the visa period. Both rules are set out in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994, published on the Australian Government's Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), as of the official text current in September 2026. This is a plain-language reading of that wording for general reference only; how it lands on a particular grant depends on the individual visa record, so treat the official text as final and seek professional advice specific to your situation if your plans are changing.
What does condition 8557 require you to hold?
Condition 8557 is a holding obligation. The holder must hold, for the whole of the visa period, whichever of the following the visa was granted on the basis of:
- a complying investment, within the meaning of regulation 5.19B;
- a complying significant investment, within the meaning of regulation 5.19C; or
- a complying premium investment, within the meaning of regulation 5.19D.
Each limb applies "as in force at a particular time" — the same version of that regulation applies to the investment you must hold. In practice this means the condition looks backwards to the basis on which the visa was granted, and then forward to require that the corresponding investment stays in place continuously until the visa period ends.
What does "as in force at that time" actually mean?
This wording does a lot of quiet work. The test is not "whatever complying investment means today" but "what it meant at the particular time your visa was granted on that basis". So if regulation 5.19B is later amended, the reference point for your obligation remains the version in force at that particular time, not the amended text. For anyone planning to restructure, switch funds or move capital between vehicles, this is the sentence to read carefully, because the definition against which your holding is measured is anchored to a specific point in time.
What work does condition 8106 allow?
Condition 8106 reads as a single sentence: "The holder must engage in work in Australia only if the work is relevant to the conduct of the business, or performance of the tasks, specified in the visa application." Three things follow from that wording:
- The test is relevance, not job title. What matters is whether the work relates to the conduct of the specified business or the performance of the specified tasks.
- The anchor is your own application. The business or tasks specified when you applied define the boundary; the condition points back to that document rather than to any external list of permitted occupations.
- It covers all work in Australia. The condition is expressed as a limit on engaging in work generally, so it applies whether the arrangement looks like self-employment, a contract, or paid employment.
For a worked illustration: suppose an applicant specified the conduct of a food manufacturing business in the visa application. Managing that business clearly falls within condition 8106. Working a shift at an unrelated retail store with no connection to that business would be difficult to describe as relevant to its conduct, so it would fall outside what the condition permits. That is a hypothetical reading of the wording, not a determination of any particular case.
How do 8557 and 8106 differ?
They regulate different things and can sit on the same visa independently. One governs capital, the other governs activity.
| Condition 8557 | Condition 8106 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it regulates | The investment you must keep holding | The work you are allowed to do |
| Core test | Is the specified type of investment held continuously? | Is the work relevant to the specified business or tasks? |
| Duration | The whole of the visa period | Whenever you engage in work in Australia |
| Defined by reference to | Regulations 5.19B, 5.19C or 5.19D | The business or tasks specified in the visa application |
The practical consequence is that compliance is not a single decision. Selling or redeeming part of an investment raises a 8557 question; taking on a new line of work raises an 8106 question. They are separate tests against separate reference points.
Which visas are actually subject to these conditions?
Neither condition attaches automatically to every business or investment visa. The note attached to each condition in Schedule 8 states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. In other words, the class of visa determines whether the condition can be imposed at all.
That means the reliable source for your own position is your own grant record: the conditions listed on your visa grant notification, and the Schedule 2 provision for your subclass. Checking those two things tells you whether 8557, 8106, or both were actually imposed on your visa.
What happens if a condition is breached?
The note in Schedule 8 directs readers to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119 for cancellation following a breach of a visa condition. Those provisions are the statutory basis for how a breach is dealt with. The wording deliberately cross-refers rather than restating the consequences, so any assessment of a specific situation needs to be made against those provisions and the facts of that grant.
Are 8571 and 8514 part of the same picture?
Business and investment applicants frequently encounter two neighbouring conditions in the same Schedule 8 family, and each is subject to the same Schedule 2 rule about whether it applies:
- 8571 requires the holder to maintain an ongoing relationship with the nominating State or Territory government agency, or with the government of the State or Territory in which that agency is or was located.
- 8514 requires that during the visa period, there must be no material change in the circumstances on the basis of which the visa was granted.
Read together with 8557 and 8106, these four conditions describe most of the ongoing compliance surface for this visa family: keep the investment, keep the work relevant, keep the relationship with the nominating government, and keep the grant circumstances materially unchanged.
How should you apply this to a change you are considering?
A short sequence helps keep the two conditions separate:
- Confirm which conditions are actually recorded against your visa grant.
- For 8557: identify which limb the visa was granted under, and test the change against that limb's definition as in force at that particular time.
- For 8106: identify the business or tasks specified in your application, and test whether the proposed work is relevant to conducting them.
- Remember both run to the end of the visa period — the holding duty is continuous, and the work limit has no expiry date within that period.
Because this is general explanation rather than advice on a particular visa, anyone whose facts are close to a boundary should have those specifics assessed against the official text before acting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does condition 8557 mean the investment is frozen?
No. Condition 8557 requires the holder to hold a complying, complying significant or complying premium investment for the whole of the visa period, but it does not prescribe how that investment must be managed day to day. The test is whether the required investment continues to be held, and against which limb of regulations 5.19B, 5.19C or 5.19D it was granted.
Can I take a salaried job under condition 8106?
Only if that work is relevant to the conduct of the business or the performance of the tasks specified in your visa application. Condition 8106 is written as a relevance test rather than a test of who employs you, so the answer turns on the connection between the job and what you specified, not on whether it is paid employment.
What is the difference between a complying investment, a complying significant investment and a complying premium investment?
They are three distinct terms, defined in regulations 5.19B, 5.19C and 5.19D of the Migration Regulations 1994 respectively. Which one applies to you depends on which of the three your visa was granted on the basis of, and condition 8557 then requires you to hold that one for the whole visa period.
How do I know whether these conditions are on my visa?
The Schedule 8 note for each condition says that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to it depends on the relevant Schedule 2 provision. So confirm the conditions recorded on your own visa grant notification, and read the Schedule 2 provision for your subclass.
Do the conditions apply for the entire visa?
Condition 8557 expressly applies for the whole of the visa period, so the holding duty is continuous from grant to the end of the period. Condition 8106 is framed as a limit on engaging in work, so it operates whenever you work in Australia during the visa period.
What if amending regulations change the definitions after my visa is granted?
Condition 8557 refers to each investment type "as in force at a particular time" — the relevant version is the one in force at the time your visa was granted on that basis. The obligation therefore points to that version of the regulation rather than to whatever is in force later.