EMC Australia / Bridging & visa status
Stay lawful while the next visa is decided
A bridging visa is not a plan for your life in Australia. It is permission to stay lawful while another visa is decided, while you arrange to leave, or while a review runs. Resident Return is different: you already hold (or held) permanent residence and need to travel.
Who this page is for
- Your current visa is about to expire and you have another application in, or you need one
- You need to check your status on VEVO (the government’s visa checker) or ImmiAccount
- You need to travel while an application is running, or you may already be unlawful
- You are a permanent resident (or former PR) who needs a Resident Return visa to come back
The visas
Which visa this page is about
Each visa has a number, called a subclass, so you can match a letter from the Department. You do not need that number to talk to us.
In Australia
Bridging Visa A
You held a real visa (not only a bridging visa) and applied for another visa in Australia. The BVA usually starts when the old visa ends.
The common bridging visa after you apply from inside Australia. Work rights are not automatic. Do not assume you can work just because you applied.
Learn more about this visaGranted in Australia; used to travel
Bridging Visa B
You hold a Bridging Visa A (or similar) and need to leave Australia and return while the application is still running.
A BVB is travel permission, with a window. Leave without one and you may not get back in on the bridging visa. Ask before you book.
Learn more about this visaIn Australia
Bridging Visa C
You did not hold a full visa when you applied, but the application can still be considered.
Often more limited than a BVA, including work rights. Get advice before you apply from this position — especially if you have been unlawful, or a previous visa was refused.
Learn more about this visaIn Australia
Bridging Visa D
A very short bridging visa, often used in an emergency when you are already unlawful or about to be.
Days, not months. It is not a plan. If you need a BVD, you need advice the same day.
Learn more about this visaIn Australia
Bridging Visa E
You are unlawful, or about to be, and need a short lawful status while you leave, apply in limited cases, or a status process runs.
A BVE is not a holding pattern for years. Conditions are strict (often no work). If you have a BVE, the clock is already running.
Learn more about this visaApply in or from outside Australia
Medical Treatment visa
You need to come to Australia, or stay, for medical treatment or to donate an organ — not as a visitor pretending to be a patient.
This is not a tourist 600. Evidence from the treating doctor and how the treatment is paid for is what the Department looks at.
Learn more about this visaApply in or from outside Australia
Resident Return visa
Permanent residents (and some former PRs) who need to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident after travel.
This is not a bridging visa. The visa that gave you permanent residence has a travel end date. After that, you still hold PR while you remain in Australia, but you may need 155 or 157 to come back. Do not discover this at the airport.
Learn more about this visa
How EMC works
How we help
01
We read VEVO with you
Grant date, expiry, conditions, work rights. People start the next visa on a guess about the last one. We do not.
02
The next visa, or leaving well
A bridging visa only works if there is a valid application, a review, or a plan to depart. We name that next step rather than stacking bridging visas.
03
Travel and return
Bridging Visa B if you are mid-application. Resident Return if you are a permanent resident who travels. Different forms, different tests.
First conversation
What to bring
- Passport and a VEVO printout (or the visa grant email)
- The application or review you think is keeping you lawful
- Travel dates, if you need to leave Australia
- If you may already be unlawful: when the last visa ended, as near as you can tell
- For Resident Return: where you have lived, and the last permanent visa grant
Before you apply
Things that go wrong
- Unlawful status is counted in days. It affects partner visas, other in-Australia applications, and character.
- A BVE with no work rights is not “almost a BVA.” Do not work.
- Travelling on a BVA without a BVB is a common, expensive mistake.
- A Resident Return visa can be refused. Permanent residence is not the same as a right to re-enter after a long absence.
Questions
People ask this first
VEVO and ImmiAccount, not the sticker in your passport. The passport label is often years out of date. We can walk through a VEVO result in a consultation.
Start with your situation.
You do not need the visa number. Book a consultation, or send us a message.
MARN 1800335 · Level 14, 333 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Related topics
- Visitor and working holiday visas
- Partner visas
- If a visa was refused or cancelled
- EOI and state nomination
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).