Bridging Visa A: Work Rights, Conditions and Travel

What is a Bridging visa A?

A Bridging visa A (Subclass 010) is a temporary visa that keeps you lawful in Australia while your substantive visa application is decided, and it does not give you any right to travel. It is granted under section 73 of the Migration Act 1958. The rules for applying sit at item 1301 of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994, and the rules for granting it sit at Part 010 of Schedule 2.

A Bridging visa A is not a substantive visa. That word has a specific meaning in subsection 5(1) of the Migration Act, and every bridging visa is excluded from it. This matters more than most people realise. Many visa criteria ask whether you held a substantive visa at a particular date. Holding a Bridging visa A does not answer that question in your favour.

The Department's own guidance describes the purpose in two parts. A Bridging visa A gives you lawful status while your substantive visa application is being processed until it is finally determined, including any merits review by the Administrative Review Tribunal. It also gives you lawful status during judicial review proceedings about that application, if you apply for a separate Bridging visa A on that basis.

There is no visa application charge. Subitem 1301(2) of Schedule 1 sets the charge for a Bridging visa A at nil. If someone tells you that you must pay the government to hold a Bridging visa A, that is wrong.

Most people never apply for their Bridging visa A separately. If you lodge a substantive visa application in Australia on one of the approved forms, that same form is also taken to be a Bridging visa A application. So when you lodge an onshore Subclass 820 partner visa through ImmiAccount, you have applied for a Bridging visa A at the same time without doing anything extra. You then apply separately, on Form 1005 or Form 1005 (Internet), only in specific situations. Those are set out later in this article.

There is one trap in that automatic rule. Regulation 2.07A says the substantive visa application is not also a Bridging visa A application if you were outside Australia when you lodged it, or if the visa you applied for can only be granted offshore. So if you lodged your onshore application while you were overseas and then flew back, you hold no bridging visa from that lodgement. You must apply for one using Form 1005 once you are in Australia.

When does a Bridging visa A actually start?

Your Bridging visa A does not start when it is granted. It is granted, and then it sits dormant. It only comes into effect when the substantive visa you already hold ceases.

This is the single most common misunderstanding about bridging visas, and it causes real harm. Migration law separates two ideas. The first is the visa period, which begins the day the visa is granted. The second is whether the visa is in effect, which is a different question entirely. You can hold a Bridging visa A for two years without it ever coming into effect, because the student visa or visitor visa underneath it is still running.

While your substantive visa is in effect, that is the visa that governs you. Its conditions are the conditions you must obey. Its work rights are the work rights you have. The Bridging visa A behind it does nothing at all. The day your substantive visa expires, the Bridging visa A switches on and takes over.

The practical consequence is about work. People see a Bridging visa A grant notice showing no conditions, assume they now have unlimited work rights, and keep working beyond the limit on the student visa they still hold. They are breaching the student visa, not the bridging visa, because the student visa is the one in effect. That breach can lead to cancellation under section 116 of the Migration Act. If the substantive visa you held at the time of grant is then cancelled, subparagraph 010.511(1)(b)(vi) ends your Bridging visa A immediately, on the day of cancellation. You are left with no bridging visa and no substantive visa. Our page on what a visa cancellation means explains what happens next.

Check which visa is in effect before you change what you are doing. Do not read the bridging visa grant notice as permission to act today.

There is a second version of the same problem. A Bridging visa A can cease to be in effect under subsection 82(3) of the Migration Act when another visa comes into effect, and still be held. If you are granted a new temporary visa while a Bridging visa A is running, the bridging visa switches off. It has not ended. Under subsection 68(4) of the Act it can come back into effect later if that new visa ceases and no more beneficial bridging visa is held. The Department calls this a reactivated bridging visa. The visa period is what ends the Bridging visa A for good, and only the events listed in Division 010.5 of Schedule 2 do that.

Can you work on a Bridging visa A?

It depends on the visa you held when you applied, because a Bridging visa A copies its work conditions from that visa. Clause 010.611(4) of Schedule 2 is the rule. Whichever of conditions 8101, 8102, 8103, 8104, 8105, 8107, 8108, 8111, 8112, 8114, 8115, 8539, 8547, 8549, 8607 and 8608 applied to the visa you held at the time of your Bridging visa A application must be imposed on the Bridging visa A.

So the answer follows your history, not your circumstances. A visitor visa with condition 8101 produces a Bridging visa A with condition 8101, which means no work in Australia at all. A student visa produces a Bridging visa A carrying the same student work limit. A Subclass 482 visa produces a Bridging visa A carrying condition 8107, which ties you to your sponsor and your nominated occupation.

If you held no visa at the time of grant, or the visa you held at the time of application has already ceased, paragraph 010.611(4)(b) applies instead. The conditions then come across from the last Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B you held. The chain carries forward. This is why a single restrictive condition can follow someone for years across a run of bridging visas.

There are important exceptions where the Bridging visa A is granted with no conditions at all, and they cover a large share of the people reading this.

### Bridging visas granted with no conditions

Under paragraph 010.611(1)(c) and the legislative instrument made for it, a Bridging visa A granted in connection with an undecided application for any of these visas carries no conditions:

• Subclass 820 (Partner)
• Subclass 801 (Partner)
• Subclass 804 (Aged Parent)
• Subclass 884 (Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary))
• Subclass 864 (Contributory Aged Parent)

That instrument has applied to initial and replacement Bridging visas A granted since 24 November 2012. If you lodged an onshore partner visa, your bridging visa gives you unrestricted work rights once it comes into effect, whatever your student or visitor visa said. You do not need to ask for work rights and you do not need to prove hardship. You can read more about how the onshore process runs on our partner visa lawyers page.

Protection visa applicants are treated the same way. Under paragraph 010.611(1)(b), a Bridging visa A held by a person whose protection visa application has not been finally determined cannot carry condition 8101. This has been the position since 1 July 2009. Our protection visa lawyers page sets out how the Subclass 866 process works.

The exception has a limit. Clause 010.611(1)(c) does not apply to a Bridging visa A granted on judicial review grounds. And under subclause 010.611(2), a protection visa applicant who is at judicial review gets condition 8101 imposed if that condition was on the last visa they held, substantive or not.

Which conditions can be imposed on a Bridging visa A?

Only the conditions listed in clause 010.611 can be imposed on a Bridging visa A, and any other condition has no effect in law. This is a point that is misunderstood constantly, including by people who read their own grant notice and panic.

Take a common example. A person holds a Subclass 600 visitor visa carrying condition 8101, no work, and condition 8201, a limit on study. They lodge a student visa application onshore. Their Bridging visa A must carry condition 8101, because it is on the list at clause 010.611. It cannot carry condition 8201, because that condition does not appear anywhere in clause 010.611. If the Department's systems record condition 8201 on that bridging visa anyway, the Department's own guidance is unambiguous: the condition has no effect in law and the holder is not required to comply with it.

The rule runs in both directions, and the other direction is the dangerous one. These conditions are mandatory and they attach by operation of law. If a condition is prescribed by clause 010.611 for your circumstances and, for any reason, it is not recorded in the Department's systems or does not appear on a grant notice, it still applies and you must still comply with it. A blank conditions field is not a grant of work rights. Check your conditions in VEVO, and if what VEVO shows does not match what the law requires, get advice before you act on it.

A few other specific rules are worth knowing. A Bridging visa A granted with a Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa application, where subitem 1229(4) was met, carries condition 8501, health insurance, and nothing else. A Bridging visa A granted in connection with most skilled and business visa applications, including Subclass 189, Subclass 190, Subclass 491, Subclass 186 and Subclass 494, carries no conditions.

How do you get work rights on a Bridging visa A?

You apply for a second Bridging visa A with nil conditions under subclause 010.211(4), and you must show a compelling need to work. You do not amend the bridging visa you already hold. You cannot ask the Department to lift condition 8101 from it. The mechanism is a fresh application for a fresh visa, and when the new Bridging visa A is granted, the old one ceases under subparagraph 010.511(1)(b)(iv).

To use subclause 010.211(4) you must meet all of these:

• You hold a Bridging visa A or a Bridging visa B that was granted because you made a valid onshore application for a substantive visa that can be granted in Australia
• You held a substantive visa when you made that substantive visa application
• That bridging visa carries one or more of conditions 8101, 8102, 8103, 8104, 8105, 8107, 8108, 8111, 8112, 8115, 8547, 8607 or 8608
• The Minister is satisfied that you have a compelling need to work

You apply on Form 1005, or Form 1005 (Internet) through ImmiAccount if it is available to you. Part D of the form is the section that matters. Question 17 asks whether you are seeking only permission to work or permission to work plus other changes. Question 19 asks whether you are seeking permission to work on the basis of financial hardship. Questions 20 to 28 are the financial section.

Two groups are shut out of this pathway, and both are widely misreported.

Protection visa applicants cannot use subclause 010.211(4) at all. Paragraph 010.211(4)(b) excludes them by name. That is not a problem, because paragraph 010.611(1)(b) already gives them a Bridging visa A with no work condition while their protection visa application has not been finally determined. They do not need the hardship pathway because they are not restricted in the first place.

People who hold a judicial review Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B also cannot use it. Sub-subparagraph 010.211(4)(a)(i)(A) requires that the bridging visa you hold was granted as a result of a valid substantive visa application. A bridging visa granted because you applied to a court was not. If your judicial review bridging visa carries condition 8101, you cannot convert it to a nil-condition visa through subclause 010.211(4). That is the settled position and no amount of evidence of hardship changes it. If you are at that stage, our judicial review page explains what the court can and cannot do.

One more piece of detail that saves people a wasted application. If you hold a Bridging visa B and you want work rights, you cannot get them on a Bridging visa B, because there is no compelling need to work criterion in the Bridging visa B rules. You must apply for a Bridging visa A with nil conditions, and then apply for a further Bridging visa B if you still need to travel. Under subclause 020.611(5), the new Bridging visa B will carry the conditions of the Bridging visa A it is built on, so if the Bridging visa A has none, neither will the Bridging visa B.

What counts as a compelling need to work?

Compelling need to work is defined in regulation 1.08 of the Migration Regulations, and for almost everyone it means one thing: financial hardship. The only alternative limb is for a Subclass 457 applicant who is identified in an approved nomination and appears to satisfy the criteria for that visa. The Subclass 457 visa is no longer open to new applicants, so in practice the hardship limb is the whole test.

Financial hardship is not defined in the legislation. The ordinary meaning of the words applies. Departmental policy describes a person as being in financial hardship where the cost of reasonable living expenses exceeds their ability to pay for them, and directs decision makers to consider:

• Whether the claimed expenses are reasonable for that person's situation
• How the person has supported themselves so far, and whether that support will continue
• Whether other means of support exist, such as a sponsor or nominator, relatives or friends in Australia, or relatives overseas
• Whether the person would otherwise become an unreasonable charge on public funds or on charitable institutions
• How long it is likely to be before the substantive visa application is decided

Note the third point, because it is where these applications fail. If you have an Australian partner who is sponsoring you, or family here who can support you, a decision maker can find that you are not in hardship even though you personally have no income. Question 27 of Form 1005 asks you to name family members in Australia who are not included in the application and to explain why each of them cannot support you financially. That question is not a formality. Answer it properly.

Note the last point too, because it works in your favour. A long remaining processing time supports a hardship claim. Savings that would carry you for three months are not the same thing when the decision is eighteen months away.

One thing the Department expressly does not weigh is the likely outcome of your substantive visa application. Policy states that this is not a relevant consideration in assessing financial hardship for bridging visa purposes. A weak partner visa does not make a hardship claim weaker.

Evidence decides these applications. Form 1005 warns that you must provide evidence even if you have given the same information to the Department before, and that the person deciding your application may have nothing else in front of them. Bank statements, rent receipts, bills and payslips carry the claim. A decision maker may accept your claims on the evidence provided, may ask for more, or may simply decide on what is in front of them without asking you for anything further under section 56 of the Migration Act. Assume you get one chance.

If the delegate is not satisfied you have a compelling need to work, the application is not simply refused. It is assessed against the other time of application criteria, and you may still be granted a further Bridging visa A. That replacement visa will carry the same conditions as the one it replaces, so you end up where you started rather than worse off.

Can you travel overseas on a Bridging visa A?

No. A Bridging visa A lets you remain in Australia. It does not let you travel to Australia or re-enter Australia if you leave. If your Bridging visa A is in effect and you leave the country, subsection 82(8) of the Migration Act ceases it the moment you depart.

That cessation is permanent. A Bridging visa A that ceased under subsection 82(8) cannot be reactivated under subsection 68(4), because reactivation only applies to bridging visas that ceased under subsection 82(3). The visa period has ended. There is nothing to switch back on.

If you leave without planning for this, you are offshore with no visa to return on. Your onshore substantive visa application may still be running, but you cannot come back to Australia on the strength of it. You would need a new substantive visa granted to you while you are outside Australia, and there is no guarantee you will get one.

To travel and return, you need a Bridging visa B (Subclass 020) before you go. It is a separate visa with separate criteria, and three of them decide most applications:

• You must hold a Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B at the time you apply, and still hold one when the decision is made
• Your reasons for leaving and re-entering Australia must be substantial
• Your return to Australia must not be contrary to the public interest

Substantial is not defined in the legislation. The Department applies the ordinary meaning: real, actual, important, of real worth or value. Departmental policy gives examples that qualify, including work or study conferences, business negotiations, academic research, visiting a seriously ill family member or close friend, attending a wedding or funeral, obtaining documents needed to satisfy visa criteria, and medical treatment for an existing condition. Policy also accepts personal travel, including a holiday, where the processing or review of your substantive visa application has been protracted.

The Bridging visa B carries a travel facility period, and this is where people get caught. The travel facility can run for the whole visa period, or the decision maker can specify a shorter end date. There is no power to extend a travel facility period once the Bridging visa B is granted. If the travel facility ends while you are outside Australia, subsection 82(5) ceases the Bridging visa B and you cannot return. If it ends while you are in Australia, you can stay, but the visa will cease under subsection 82(6) the moment you leave again.

Two further warnings apply if your matter is at review. If the Administrative Review Tribunal affirms a refusal while you are overseas, your Bridging visa B ceases 35 days after that decision, not 35 days after you are told about it. If a court completes judicial review proceedings while you are overseas, the Bridging visa B ceases 28 days after completion. In both cases, if you are offshore when it ceases, you cannot return.

Unlike the Bridging visa A, the Bridging visa B carries a visa application charge. Apply on Form 1006 rather than Form 1005 where you can. Both forms are approved for a Bridging visa B, but departmental policy prefers Form 1006 because it captures the travel details and payment information, which usually means a faster decision.

When does a Bridging visa A cease?

A Bridging visa A ceases when a specified event happens, not on a fixed date. The events are listed in section 82 of the Migration Act and Division 010.5 of Schedule 2. For a Bridging visa A granted on or after 19 November 2016, the main ones are these.

• Your substantive visa is granted: the Bridging visa A ceases immediately
• Your substantive visa application is refused: 35 days after the refusal decision
• You apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal and it decides your review: 35 days after that decision
• You withdraw the substantive visa application or the review application: 35 days after the effective date of withdrawal
• Your application is found to be invalid: 35 days after it is found invalid
• Another bridging visa is granted for the same substantive visa application: when the new one is granted
• The substantive visa you held when the Bridging visa A was granted is cancelled: on cancellation

Read the second and third points again, because the wording changed in 2016 and a lot of published advice has not caught up. The clock now runs from the date of the decision, not from the date you are notified of it. If a decision is made and the letter reaches you a week later, you have already used a week. Count 35 days from the decision date on the document.

A Bridging visa A granted on judicial review grounds runs on different timing. It ceases 28 days after the proceedings, including any appeal, are completed, or 28 days after the judicial review application is withdrawn.

There is a harder rule underneath all of this. If you miss the deadline to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, your substantive visa application becomes finally determined under paragraph 5(9)(b) of the Migration Act. From that moment you cannot be granted any further Bridging visa A for that application, even though you may still hold one for another few weeks. The bridging visa runs out and nothing replaces it. Missing a review deadline is how people become unlawful, and it is the deadline that matters most on the file. Our page on appealing a visa refusal sets out the review deadlines and what they mean.

When do you apply for a Bridging visa A separately?

You lodge a separate Bridging visa A application on Form 1005 in four situations, and they are worth knowing because each one is a moment where people lose their lawful status without noticing.

The first is where you want different or nil conditions. That is the work rights application described above.

The second is where your previous Bridging visa A ceased because you left Australia. You have returned on another visa, your substantive visa application is still undecided, and you need a replacement bridging visa for it.

The third is where you have applied for judicial review of a decision refusing your substantive visa. This is a separate bridging visa application on a separate legal basis, and the timing is strict. You must have made the court application within the statutory time limit, which is 35 days from the migration decision, and you must have held a Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B at the moment you made it. If your bridging visa ceased before you filed in court, you do not qualify. If you asked the court for an extension of time and the court has not granted it while the 35 days has passed, you cannot make a valid Bridging visa A application at all.

The fourth is where you lodged your onshore substantive visa application while you were outside Australia and have since arrived. Regulation 2.07A means that lodgement was not also a bridging visa application, so you must make one.

Whichever situation applies, two things on the form decide validity before anyone looks at your circumstances. You must give a residential address in Australia. Form 1005 states plainly that failure to give a residential address will result in your application being invalid, and a post office box is not accepted. You must also be in Australia and not in immigration clearance when you apply, and you cannot apply from immigration detention or criminal detention.

A refusal of a Bridging visa A is reviewable. It is a Part 5-reviewable decision under subsection 338(2) or subsection 338(4) of the Migration Act, so the Administrative Review Tribunal can review it. The refusal notice must tell you that the decision can be reviewed, the time limit for applying, who can apply and where. Those deadlines are short. Read the notice the day it arrives rather than the day you get around to it, and if you want a lawyer to act, request a consultation before the deadline passes rather than after.

How My Migration Lawyers can help with your Bridging visa A

Most bridging visa problems are timing problems, and timing problems are fixable if you deal with them early. Left alone, they are not.

My Migration Lawyers is an Australian migration law firm. Weiwei Zhang, our Principal Lawyer, acts for people who are onshore in partner visa, protection visa, refusal, cancellation and review matters, and a bridging visa sits underneath almost every one of them. Consultations are by video, so it does not matter where in Australia you are or what time zone your family is in.

On a bridging visa, here is what we actually do.

• We establish what you hold right now, from the Department's records and VEVO, rather than from what a grant notice appears to say
• We tell you which visa is in effect today and which conditions bind you today, which is the question that decides whether you can work this week
• Where you need work rights, we prepare the Form 1005 application and build the financial hardship evidence properly, including the family support question at question 27 that quietly sinks so many of these applications
• Where you need to travel, we tell you honestly whether a Bridging visa B is realistic, how long a travel facility you are likely to be given, and what happens to your return if your review is decided while you are overseas
• We put the deadlines that actually matter in front of you in writing: the 35 days that runs from a decision date and not from your letter, and the review deadline that, once missed, ends your right to any further bridging visa for that application

We work on fixed fees for each matter, set out in writing with the scope before you commit to anything, so the cost of the work is not a moving target while you wait.

If you are unsure what you hold, what you are allowed to do, or how long you have, that is exactly the conversation to have before something ceases rather than after. Request a consultation and tell us your visa grant number and what has happened so far, and a lawyer will come back to you by email.