Bridging visa
Statutory definition
The Migration Act 1958 defines bridging visa as a visa of a class prescribed in the regulations to be a bridging visa. The Migration Regulations 1994 prescribe six classes of bridging visa (Bridging A, B, C, D, E, and F), each with different conditions and circumstances of grant.
Explanation
A bridging visa is a temporary visa that keeps a person as a lawful non-citizen (rather than an unlawful non-citizen) while they are waiting for the outcome of a substantive visa application, a review, or deportation proceedings.
The primary function of a bridging visa is to bridge the gap between the expiry or cancellation of one visa and the grant of another. Without a bridging visa, a person whose substantive visa has expired but who has a pending application would be an unlawful non-citizen and subject to mandatory detention under s 189.
The main classes are:
- Bridging visa A (BVA): Allows the holder to remain in Australia while a substantive visa application is being processed. Does not allow travel outside Australia without being converted to a BVB.
- Bridging visa B (BVB): Allows the holder to travel outside Australia and return while their substantive application is pending.
- Bridging visa C (BVC): Granted in certain circumstances where an applicant cannot be granted a BVA; generally does not allow work.
- Bridging visa E (BVE): Granted to persons who are unlawful non-citizens, to allow them to remain lawfully in Australia while they make arrangements to depart or resolve their status.
How this term is used
In the context of the points-tested visa pathway, bridging visas are relevant when a person already in Australia lodges an onshore application for a Subclass 189, Subclass 190, or Subclass 491 visa. The person's existing visa may expire before the Department processes the application; the bridging visa keeps them lawful in the interim.
Bridging visas are also used in the context of visa cancellation: if a visa is cancelled and the holder applies for a review of that decision, a bridging visa may be granted to allow them to remain lawfully during the review process.
The conditions of a bridging visa — including work rights, travel rights, and reporting requirements — vary depending on the class granted and the specific conditions imposed. The substantive visa application that generated the bridging visa must still be determined; the bridging visa does not itself resolve the applicant's status.