Bridging Visas

Granted automatically when you lodge a valid substantive application onshore while holding a substantive visa. Keeps you lawful when your current visa expires. It generally carries the same work conditions as the visa you held, and in some cases the conditions of the visa you have applied for.

The only standard bridging visa that requires its own application and fee — and it must be granted before you leave Australia. A BVB gives you defined travel and re-entry rights. If you leave Australia holding only a BVA or BVC, that visa ceases and you may have no visa to return on.

Granted when you lodge a valid substantive application onshore after your previous substantive visa has already expired. It restores lawful status but carries no work rights by default. Work rights can be sought separately, generally on the basis of financial hardship.

For people who are unlawful or whose visa pathways have been refused or finalised, while they resolve their status or prepare to depart. By default it carries no work rights and no travel rights, and it may include reporting conditions.

A specialised visa granted by the Minister (not on application) to people who cannot be removed from Australia in the reasonably foreseeable future. Following High Court decisions in 2024 and 2026, the mandatory curfew and electronic monitoring conditions previously attached to BVRs were held invalid and have been removed. Holders remain subject to significant reporting and notification conditions.