Temporary resident?

Hi Fun

With regard to second hand residential property, the FIRB web site says:
“Acquisitions of residential real estate that has been previously owned or occupied, that is second-hand houses, flats or units, are not normally approved except for the following two categories:

Foreign nationals temporarily resident in Australia, holding a current temporary resident visa which permits continuous residence in Australia for a further period of more than 12 months from the time of application. The dwelling must be used as their principal place of residence1 and not for rental purposes, and must be sold immediately when their visa expires, they no longer reside in the property or when they cease to reside in Australia.
Persons who hold visitor or bridging visas are not eligible for approval under this category.
This category includes students 18 years of age and over studying courses of more than twelve months duration at recognised tertiary institutions.
A general limit of $300,000 applies to the value of properties acquired by these students.”

Other rule apply to new residential real estate that has been approved for sale to non residents. For the full story, check out:
http://www.firb.gov.au

I hope this helps.

Cheers, Paul

Hi Fun,

I’m not sure what your situation is, but I was able to purchase a property (just recently) with my Defacto-spouse, even though I was only on a bridging Visa, as non-residents can purchase a property with their spouses (defacto or married).

Cheers,
Jen

Hi FUN

May I suggest you go back to the FIRB web site and have a good read. The specific page is:
http://www.firb.gov.au/content/real_estate/residential.asp
The specific paragraph starts, “Under the Act, a foreign person is:”

As you will probably have a “substantial interest” in the trust you speak of, the short answer is that this trust would not be able to buy residential land. Of course, you could test the term “substantial interest” buy setting up the trust and putting in an application but, if I was you, I’d get good professional advice before possibly wasting your money.

Cheers, Paul