Navigating Australia's immigration system involves understanding temporary visa options maintaining legal status throughout application processes. Whether your current visa is expiring while awaiting student visa approval or you need to travel internationally during processing periods, bridging visas provide essential interim solutions ensuring continuous lawful presence and compliance with immigration regulations throughout substantive visa assessment stages.
1 Bridging Visa A - Onshore Lawful Status
Primary Function: The BVA subclass 010 provides interim lawful status for individuals whose current visas are expiring while substantive visa applications remain under assessment. This temporary visa prevents unlawful presence, enabling applicants to remain in Australia legally until final decisions are made on new visa applications, including any judicial review processes.
Key Advantages: Valid BVAs maintain lawful presence even after current visa expiry, providing peace of mind and avoiding complications associated with unlawful non-citizen status. Visa conditions typically mirror previous visa conditions, ensuring consistency throughout processing periods. For example, applicants transitioning from visitor to student visa applications generally maintain visitor visa conditions on their BVAs.
Location Requirements: Applicants must be physically present in Australia at two crucial moments: application lodgement time and visa grant time if approved. BVAs cannot be applied for from outside Australia, and approved applicants must remain in Australia to receive visa grants.
Core Eligibility Criteria: Applicants must currently hold or have recently held substantive visas in Australia. Applications must be lodged while physically present in Australia. Eligibility requires either valid substantive visa applications under assessment or judicial review processes initiated within designated timeframes for previous visa decisions. All review requests must be submitted within allowed timeframes. Applicants must meet character requirements, with no age restrictions applying.
2 BVA Application Process and Termination
Pre-Application Verification: Before lodging new BVA applications, verify current BVA status through VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) to avoid duplicate applications and ensure accurate understanding of current visa status.
Application Methods: Application procedures depend on initial substantive visa application methods. Applications submitted electronically through ImmiAccount require online BVA applications. Paper form substantive visa applications or review requests require web form BVA submissions. Regardless of method, all applicants and included family members must be physically present in Australia when lodging BVA requests.
Decision Notifications: Application outcomes are communicated via written notification. Both primary applicants and included family members must be physically present in Australia when decisions are made. Approved applications receive visa grant numbers, start dates, and specific conditions. Refusals include decision reasons and review possibility information.
Automatic Termination Circumstances: BVAs terminate immediately under specific conditions: departing Australia automatically ceases BVAs; successful substantive visa grants invalidate BVAs; obtaining another bridging visa (such as BVB) related to the same substantive application ceases BVAs; cancellation of previously held visas when BVAs were granted also invalidates BVAs.
Family Member Applications: Family members from original substantive visa applications may be included in BVA applications. Separate individual BVA applications are permitted, with each family member's eligibility assessed independently. BVAs do not extend Australian stays through reapplication; longer stays require new substantive visa applications.
3 Bridging Visa B - International Travel Authorization
Travel Facilitation: The BVB provides temporary travel authorization enabling international departure from and return to Australia until specified dates. Applicants may choose single or multiple travel permission options depending on travel requirements and circumstances.
Eligibility Requirements: BVB applicants must currently hold either BVA or existing BVB visas. Applications require documented justification demonstrating valid travel reasons supporting international travel needs. No age restrictions apply to BVB applications, enabling applicants of all ages to seek travel authorization.
Application Fees and Timing: BVB applications incur AUD $180 fees. Both primary applicants and all listed individuals must be physically present in Australia for applications to be considered valid and for visa approval. No official processing timeframes are published; applicants should lodge BVB applications several weeks before planned departure dates to avoid potential delays affecting travel plans.
Critical Considerations: Before traveling, verify BVB validity hasn't expired and sufficient validity remains for planned trips. Expiring BVBs require new applications before departing Australia. VEVO enables online BVB status verification. Judicial review cases may require separate BVB applications. BVB conditions cannot be modified; condition changes require BVA applications instead.
4 BVB Conditions and Compliance Obligations
Visa Conditions: Upon BVB grant, specific conditions applying to the visa are communicated to recipients. These conditions govern permitted activities, work rights, and travel limitations during BVB validity periods. Approved applications specify travel periods dictating BVB termination dates, requiring careful attention to timeframes.
Compliance Responsibilities: Visa recipients and all individuals listed in BVB applications must follow all Australian regulations, adhere to existing visa conditions, and comply with BVB conditions once active. Strict adherence to laws and visa requirements maintains immigration regulation compliance. Non-compliance may result in visa cancellation or other legal consequences.
Return Requirements: Applicants must return to Australia before BVB expiry dates to maintain lawful status. Failing to return before expiry while outside Australia causes automatic BVB cessation, preventing Australian re-entry without valid visas. Careful travel planning ensures BVB validity throughout entire planned trip durations.
Renewal Procedures: Once BVB travel periods expire and subsequent international travel is planned, new BVB applications must be lodged and approved before departing Australia. Each travel period requires separate BVB applications; existing BVBs cannot be extended or renewed after travel period expiry.
Work and Study Rights: BVB conditions determine work and study permissions during visa validity. Conditions typically align with underlying substantive visa application conditions, though specific restrictions may apply depending on individual circumstances and visa types being processed.
Your Success Partner
AI Global provides comprehensive support for Bridging Visa A and B applicants, assisting with eligibility assessment, application preparation, condition interpretation, and lodgement procedures. Our experienced migration consultants guide you through documentation requirements, VEVO verification, travel planning considerations, and compliance obligations, ensuring you maintain lawful status throughout substantive visa processing periods.
Contact us today to explore your options for bridging visas and ensure continuous lawful presence in Australia while your substantive visa applications undergo assessment and determination.