A bridging visa is the most misunderstood visa in the Australian system. It is not a lesser version of the visa you applied for, and it is not a grace period. It is a temporary visa that keeps you lawful while something else is being decided, and the type you hold determines whether you can work, whether you can leave the country, and how many days you have once a decision lands.
Most people are granted one without ever filling in a separate form. That is exactly why so many run into trouble: they never read the grant letter, and they assume the conditions of their old visa carry across. They do not.
This guide sets out what each bridging visa allows, the rules that catch people out, and the exact timeframes that apply once your application is decided.
What a bridging visa actually is
A bridging visa is a temporary visa that lets you stay in Australia lawfully while your immigration status is resolved. It is not a substantive visa, which matters more than it sounds: a substantive visa is any visa other than a bridging, criminal justice or enforcement visa, and holding one at the right moment is a requirement for several onshore applications.
Nearly all bridging visas are applied for automatically as part of applying for a substantive visa. The Department grants them alongside the application and tells you in writing. You can check what you hold, and the conditions attached to it, through VEVO.
Two points are worth understanding before anything else.
Holding a bridging visa is not the same as being on one. A bridging visa is granted, then sits dormant. It only comes "into effect" when your current substantive visa ceases, or when it is granted after that visa has already ceased, or when it is more beneficial than a bridging visa you already hold. Until it comes into effect, the conditions of your substantive visa still apply. Once it does, the bridging visa's conditions take over, and they may be different.
A bridging visa will not cover a citizenship application. You cannot use a bridging visa while you wait for a citizenship decision. If your visa is running out and your citizenship application is still on foot, that is a separate problem needing a separate solution.
The five bridging visas at a glance
| Visa | Typical situation | Cost | Can you travel? |
|---|---|---|---|
| BVA (subclass 010) | You applied onshore while holding a substantive visa | Free | No. It ends the moment you leave |
| BVB (subclass 020) | You hold a BVA or BVB and need to leave and return | AUD 575 | Yes, inside a defined travel period |
| BVC (subclass 030) | You applied onshore without holding a substantive visa | Free | No |
| BVD (subclass 041) | Short-term stopgap when an application cannot yet be made or finalised | Free | No |
| BVE (subclass 050/051) | You are unlawful, arranging to leave, seeking review or ministerial intervention | Free | No |
Bridging visa A (subclass 010)
The BVA is the one most people hold. It is free, it is usually granted automatically when you lodge an onshore application while you still hold a substantive visa, and it keeps you lawful until that application is finally determined.
Work rights are not automatic. Whether your BVA lets you work depends on the conditions the Department attaches to it, which flow from the visa you applied for. Your grant letter states them and VEVO confirms them. If your BVA does not permit work, you can apply for a further BVA without the work restriction, but you will usually need to demonstrate financial hardship, and the Department assesses that claim. If you do not meet the test, you are granted a fresh BVA carrying the same restriction.
There are two situations where a work-permitted BVA is off the table entirely: where your BVA was granted because you applied for judicial review, and where you have applied for a protection visa.
Do not leave the country on a BVA. This is the single most damaging mistake we see. If your BVA is in effect and you depart Australia, it ceases on departure and you cannot return on it. It does not reactivate. If you need to travel while your application is pending, you must be granted a BVB before you go.
A BVA also ends immediately if you are granted the substantive visa you applied for, if you are granted another bridging visa for the same application, or if the Department cancels your BVA or the substantive visa you held when it was granted.
Bridging visa B (subclass 020): the only one that lets you travel
If you need to leave Australia and come back while your application is pending, the BVB is the only bridging visa that permits it. It costs AUD 575 and it is granted with a defined travel period, either single or multiple entry, valid until a specified date.
The mechanics matter here, because the Department will not fix them for you after the fact.
- Timing. Home Affairs recommends applying no more than three months and no less than two weeks before you intend to travel. Applying too early risks a travel period that expires before your trip; too late and you may not be granted in time.
- The travel period cannot be changed or extended once granted. When the Department sets it, it weighs why you want to travel against when it expects to decide your substantive visa application. Give it a clear reason and your intended travel dates.
- Being outside Australia when the travel period ends is the trap. If the period expires while you are overseas, the BVB ends and you cannot re-enter on it. You will need to apply for and be granted a different visa before you can come back. If you are in Australia when it ends and you need to travel again, you simply apply for another BVB.
- You can hold a substantive visa and a BVB at the same time. If your current visa still allows travel but you think it may expire before you re-enter, applying for a BVB and waiting for the grant before you fly is the safer sequence.
- You cannot change conditions on a BVB. If your work conditions need to change, that is a BVA application, not a BVB one. And conditions cannot be changed at all on a bridging visa granted on the basis of a judicial review application.
A BVB also ends if you are granted the substantive visa, if you are granted another bridging visa, if it is cancelled, or if you leave Australia after the travel period has ended. There is more detail in our full guide to the Bridging visa B.
Bridging visa C (subclass 030)
A BVC is granted where you made a valid onshore application for a substantive visa but did not hold a substantive visa at the time. It keeps you lawful, but it does not let you travel, and the default position is that it does not let you work.
There is a specific and useful exception. The initial BVC will permit work if the substantive visa you applied for is one of the following:
- Business Talent (subclass 132)
- Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187)
- Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (subclass 188) and Permanent (subclass 888)
- Skilled Independent (subclass 189)
- Skilled Nominated (subclass 190)
- Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491)
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494)
If your BVC does not permit work and your visa is not on that list, the route is the same as for a BVA: apply for a further BVC without the restriction and establish financial hardship.
Bridging visas D and E
A BVD (subclass 041) is a short-term measure, used where a valid application cannot yet be made or an interview cannot take place. It is a stopgap, not a destination.
A BVE comes in two forms. The subclass 050 is the general one, granted where you are currently unlawful, already hold a BVE, or hold a BVD. The subclass 051 applies in limited circumstances to certain protection visa applicants. A BVE lets you stay lawfully while you are making arrangements to leave Australia, applying for a substantive visa, seeking merits or judicial review of a visa or citizenship decision, or seeking ministerial intervention.
Work rights on a BVE are stated in your grant letter and should be treated seriously. Working when you are not permitted to can result in cancellation of the BVE, detention, and removal from Australia. If you are not permitted to work, a further BVE that allows it is possible only in limited situations, financial hardship among them, and the requirements differ depending on whether you are at judicial review or seeking ministerial intervention.
If you cannot resolve your status or depart by the specified date, you will need a new BVE or another visa option. The Department's Status Resolution Service exists for exactly this situation.
How long your bridging visa lasts once a decision is made
This is where the countdown starts, and where people lose the ability to fix things.
For a BVA or BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ceases 35 calendar days after any of the following:
- a refusal decision on your substantive visa application, or a tribunal decision on it
- a determination that your substantive visa application, or your application for tribunal review, is invalid
- you withdraw your substantive visa application or your review application
It ceases 28 calendar days after a judicial review body upholds the refusal decision, or after you withdraw a related judicial review application.
For a BVA or BVB granted before 19 November 2016, the period is 28 days across the board.
Two qualifications. First, VEVO is the authority on your particular visa. Once you have been notified of an outcome, VEVO shows the exact date your bridging visa ceases, and that is the date to work to, not a figure from an article. Second, the Home Affairs pages setting out these rules still refer to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The AAT was replaced by the Administrative Review Tribunal on 14 October 2024. The same timeframes apply to ART decisions; only the name of the tribunal has changed.
Three mistakes that cost people their status
1. Flying out on a BVA. It ends on departure, permanently, and no amount of explanation at the airport changes that. If travel is even a possibility, sort out a BVB first.
2. Assuming work rights carried over. Your old visa's conditions stop applying the moment the bridging visa comes into effect. Check VEVO the week your substantive visa expires, not the week your employer asks.
3. Treating the 35 days as breathing room. It is not time to decide what to do next; it is time to have already decided. If your application was refused, the section 48 bar may prevent you lodging most onshore applications at all, and condition 8503 may block an onshore application even before a refusal. Where a bar applies, Schedule 3 criteria or a review application may be the only routes left, and both have their own deadlines measured in days.
Where to get this checked
Bridging visas are simple to describe and easy to get wrong, because the rules that matter to you sit in your grant letter and in VEVO rather than in any general guide. If you are unsure which bridging visa you hold, whether you can work, or how long you have after a decision, have it looked at before you act rather than after.
Nanak Migration Group are MARA-registered migration agents. If your application is pending, refused, or your bridging visa is about to come into effect, book your consultation and we will confirm exactly where you stand.
Further reading: our full bridging visas guide, visa refusal and appeal options, and Administrative Review Tribunal reviews.
This article is general information, not personal migration advice. It reflects Department of Home Affairs guidance as at 7 September 2026 and does not take your circumstances into account. Confirm your own visa conditions and cease dates through VEVO.