EMC Australia / Subclass 155 / 157
A travel facility for permanent residence — not citizenship.
Not citizenship. Subclasses 155 and 157 let a permanent resident leave Australia and come back. The visa that gave you permanent residence has a travel end date. While you remain in Australia after that date, you are still a permanent resident. If you are outside Australia when it ends, you are a former permanent resident until a Resident Return visa is granted. 155 is the main visa. 157 is the short one when you cannot meet 155.
Who this page is for
- You are a permanent resident in Australia and the travel facility is ending or has ended
- You are outside Australia and need to re-enter as a permanent resident
- You were a permanent resident, or a former Australian citizen, and the last travel facility has lapsed
- Someone told you a bridging visa will get you back into Australia as a permanent resident
How it works
What this visa asks of you
These are the parts of this visa, in the order they usually matter.
VEVO
Before you fly
Read the travel end date before you book
Permanent residence and the right to re-enter are not the same date.
VEVO shows the travel facility. The sticker in an old passport often does not. If you are in Australia when that date passes, you can stay as a permanent resident, but you should not leave until a Resident Return visa is granted. Do not discover this at the airport.
155 residence
In or from outside Australia
Subclass 155 on residence in Australia
You were in Australia as a permanent resident, or as an Australian citizen, for at least two years in the five years before you apply.
That is the residence test for a five-year travel facility on a 155. Time as a temporary visa holder does not fill the two years. Each person needs their own application.
155 ties
When the two-year test is not met
Subclass 155 on substantial ties
Substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties that are of benefit to Australia.
Ties are documents: family who are here, work, property, time you have actually spent here. A paragraph about missing Australia is not a tie. This 155 is shorter than the five-year visa, often one year. A long continuous absence makes the test harder.
157 visa
Compelling and compassionate reasons
Subclass 157 when 155 is not available
You cannot meet the 155 residence or ties tests, and there is a real reason you need to return or to travel.
157 is not a consolation prize you choose. It is the short Resident Return visa, commonly a three-month travel facility. After you are back, the next plan is a 155 you can actually meet, or citizenship if you are eligible. Citizenship is a different application.
How EMC works
How we help
01
155, 157, or not this visa
We read VEVO, the last permanent visa, and where you have been. If you never held permanent residence, a Resident Return visa is the wrong form.
02
The absence, with records
Movement dates, family, work and property. We do not lodge a ties claim that is only a story.
03
Citizenship is separate
If you can take citizenship, that can end this travel-facility problem. We will not call a 155 a citizenship application.
First conversation
What to bring
- VEVO, or the permanent visa grant if VEVO has no record
- Movement history: when you entered and left Australia
- Passport, and any ImmiCard or old evidence of the first arrival
- If you are applying on ties: family, employment, business or property in Australia
- Any previous Resident Return refusal, or a visa cancellation
Before you apply
Things that go wrong
- This is not citizenship. Australian citizens do not use 155 or 157 to travel.
- A bridging visa does not replace a Resident Return visa.
- Do not leave Australia on an expired travel facility and assume you are still a permanent resident at the border.
- If you are outside Australia when the facility ends, you are a former permanent resident until a Resident Return visa is granted.
- A Resident Return visa can be refused. Character still applies. One family member’s grant does not cover the others.
Questions
People ask this first
No. Citizenship is a separate application. 155 and 157 are for people who are, or were, permanent residents (and some former citizens) and need a travel facility. If you are already an Australian citizen, you do not apply for this.
Start with your situation.
You do not need to memorise the subclass. Book a consultation, or send us a message.
MARN 1800335 · Level 14, 333 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Related topics
This page is general information, not advice about your circumstances. Australian migration law changes. You should consult a Registered Migration Agent before you apply. EMC Australia is OMARA-registered (MARN 1800335).