Section 48 Bar Australia: Which Visas You Can Still Apply For

The Complete List of Visas You Can Apply For Under Regulation 2.12

Section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 restricts onshore visa applications 'subject to the regulations' — and regulation 2.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994 is where the exceptions actually live. If a visa class is not on this list, you cannot validly lodge it while the bar applies to you.

As at the current compilation of the Migration Regulations 1994 (in force from 1 July 2026), regulation 2.12 prescribes:

A handful of narrower classes are also prescribed and won't apply to most readers: Territorial Asylum (Residence) (Class BE), Border (Temporary) (Class TA), Special Category (Temporary) (Class TY) — the entry category for New Zealand citizens — and the Retirement and Investor Retirement classes. None of these change the practical list above.

Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) is not prescribed, despite drawing from the same general skilled migration points test as 190 and 491. Neither are the 482, 186 or 187 employer-sponsored visas, nor almost any visitor, student or temporary work visa. If your situation doesn't fit a row in the table above, lodging onshore is not an option under the current regulation — the remaining routes are leaving Australia or waiting until the bar no longer applies to you, both covered in /blog/s48-bar-overcoming.

Partner Visa (Subclass 820): The Route Most People Reach For

Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) — Subclass 820 — is prescribed under regulation 2.12(a), so a section 48-barred applicant can lodge it. But lodging is not the same as satisfying the criteria, and this is where most people misjudge the process.

Clause 820.211(2) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations sets out the core partner criteria: being the spouse or de facto partner of an eligible sponsor, and being sponsored by them. Subparagraph 820.211(2)(d) then adds a requirement that applies specifically to anyone who does not hold a substantive visa at the time of application — which, by definition, describes every section 48-barred applicant. That subparagraph requires the applicant to satisfy Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, unless the Minister is satisfied that there are compelling reasons for not applying those criteria. That is the exact statutory wording.

Schedule 3 is a separate, additional set of criteria the regulations impose on applicants who are already unlawful or on a bridging visa when they apply, to discourage using a partner visa as a way around an earlier refusal. Clauses 3001, 3003 and 3004 are not waived automatically just because the relationship is genuine — the regulation requires the applicant to either satisfy them directly, or persuade the delegate there are compelling reasons not to apply them.

What counts as a compelling reason is not defined in the regulations and is assessed case by case. This is the biggest reason the partner-visa pathway under a section 48 bar is harder than it looks from outside: two people can be in an equally genuine relationship, and one application can clear Schedule 3 while the other can't, depending entirely on how the compelling-reasons case is built. That evidence is separate from, and additional to, the relationship evidence used for the partner visa itself — see /blog/partner-visa-evidence-guide for what a standard evidence file looks like, and treat a Schedule 3 argument as a further document on top of it, not a substitute.

The permanent second stage, Partner (Residence) (Class BS) — Subclass 801 — is prescribed separately under regulation 2.12(b), but it only becomes relevant after an 820 has already been granted and roughly two years have generally passed. It is not a separate onshore option for someone currently subject to the bar.

Protection, Medical Treatment, Child and Resolution of Status Visas

**Protection visa (Subclass 866).** Prescribed under regulation 2.12(c) as 'protection visas'. This route is for a genuine claim that you cannot safely return to your home country because of persecution, reflecting Australia's obligations under the Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture. It is not a general fallback for anyone who has simply had a different visa refused — the claim has to be genuine and specific to your own risk of harm.

**Medical Treatment visa (Subclass 602).** Prescribed under regulation 2.12(ca) as Medical Treatment (Visitor) (Class UB). For someone in Australia who needs medical treatment not readily available at home. It is a temporary visitor visa, not a pathway to a longer-term outcome, and the evidence requirements around the medical need and treatment plan are strict.

**Child visas (Subclasses 802 and 837).** Prescribed under regulation 2.12(p) as Child (Residence) (Class BT). Subclass 802 covers a dependent child of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen; Subclass 837 covers an orphan relative. Being section 48-barred doesn't change what counts as a dependent child or how the sponsoring relationship is assessed.

**Resolution of Status visa (Subclass 851).** Prescribed under regulation 2.12(o) as Resolution of Status (Class CD). Available to certain refugees and humanitarian entrants already in Australia — generally people transitioning from a temporary protection-related visa — and not open to the general onshore population.

Bridging Visas Stay Available

Every bridging visa class — A, B, C, D, E, F and R — is prescribed under regulation 2.12(h) to (mb). In practice this means a section 48-barred applicant is never forced into unlawful status just because most substantive visa applications are closed to them: if a bridging visa ceases, applying for a further one (typically a Bridging Visa E) is always possible.

The technical detail of how bridging visas interact with the bar — what happens when you leave and return on a Bridging Visa B, how a Bridging Visa A responds to a review being lodged, what a Bridging Visa E permits — belongs with the bigger explanation of the bar itself. See /blog/s48-bar-overcoming and /blog/bridging-visa-guide for that detail. The point for this list is narrower: a bridging visa is never off the table under regulation 2.12, even when almost everything else is.

A Second Trap: 'No Further Stay' Conditions

Some applicants who reach a section 48 bar are also holding, or were last holding, a visa that carried an 8503 or 8534 'no further stay' condition — common on visitor visas and some other temporary categories. Those conditions operate separately from section 48 and can restrict onshore applications in their own right, including for some of the visas prescribed under regulation 2.12.

If your most recent substantive visa had either condition attached, check /blog/visa-condition-8503-guide or /blog/visa-condition-8534-guide before assuming that a visa on the regulation 2.12 list is actually open to you in practice. The two restrictions are independent of each other, and clearing the section 48 hurdle does not automatically clear an 8503 or 8534 one.

The 13 November 2021 Change: Subclasses 190, 491 and 494

Before November 2021, regulation 2.12 stopped at protection, partner, child, medical treatment, resolution of status and bridging visas — no skilled visa was on the list. The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Regulations 2021, under a schedule titled 'Allow applications for certain skilled visas by persons in Australia under section 48', inserted three new paragraphs into regulation 2.12: Skilled—Nominated (Permanent) (Class SN) — Subclass 190; Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Class PS) — Subclass 491; and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (Class PE) — Subclass 494. That instrument was registered on 29 October 2021, and this schedule commenced on 13 November 2021.

The practical effect: a section 48-barred applicant who holds a current state or territory nomination for a 190 or 491, or an approved employer nomination for a 494, can lodge that visa onshore. What the change does not do is guarantee the nomination itself. State and territory skilled migration programs assess nominees under their own current criteria, which change from year to year and program to program, and jurisdictions are not required to nominate an applicant who is subject to the bar. Confirm directly with the nominating state, territory or sponsoring employer before relying on this pathway, rather than assuming the regulation alone makes the nomination available.

Subclass 189 was not added by this instrument and remains outside regulation 2.12 entirely — a section 48-barred applicant with enough points for a 189 invitation still cannot lodge that visa onshore. The nomination requirement is what makes 190, 491 and 494 different: nomination brings in a state, territory or employer who can stand behind the application in a way a self-nominated 189 cannot.

If None of These Fit Your Situation

Most Australian visa subclasses are not on this list. Every general skilled visa other than 190, 491 and 494, almost every visitor and student visa, the 482 and other employer-sponsored temporary visas, and most family visas outside the partner and child categories are all unavailable to lodge onshore while a section 48 bar applies. That's a deliberate design choice in the regulations, not an oversight — the prescribed list protects a narrow set of circumstances, rather than offering a general second chance.

If your situation genuinely doesn't fit any row in the table above, the options sit outside regulation 2.12 altogether: departing Australia to apply from outside the migration zone, or waiting until you are granted a substantive visa through one of the routes that is available. Both of those, along with what actually triggers the bar and how the Administrative Review Tribunal fits in, are covered in full in /blog/s48-bar-overcoming.

Working out which of these routes genuinely applies to your case — and whether a Schedule 3 waiver argument or a state nomination is realistic — is the kind of assessment a MARA-registered migration agent handles routinely. You can get matched with a MARA-registered agent who works with section 48 and partner-visa cases, or browse /agents/partner-visa and /agents/visa-refusals-appeals specialists directly.

Can I apply for a partner visa with a section 48 bar?

Yes — Partner (Temporary) (Class UK), Subclass 820, is prescribed under regulation 2.12(a), so lodging is possible. But because you won't hold a substantive visa at the time of application, subparagraph 820.211(2)(d) also requires you to satisfy Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, or persuade the Minister's delegate there are compelling reasons not to apply them. That waiver argument is a real additional hurdle, not a formality.

Can I apply for a 190 or 491 visa with a section 48 bar?

Yes, since 13 November 2021. Subclasses 190 (Skilled—Nominated) and 491 (Skilled Work Regional) were added to regulation 2.12 by the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Regulations 2021, alongside Subclass 494. You still need a current state, territory or family nomination to lodge — the regulation change opened the door, it did not remove the nomination requirement, and not every jurisdiction nominates section 48-barred applicants.

Does the section 48 bar apply offshore?

No. Section 48(1) of the Migration Act 1958 applies only to 'a non-citizen in the migration zone' — in practice, someone physically in Australia. Once you have genuinely departed the migration zone, section 48 no longer prevents you from lodging a visa application, including for a class not on the regulation 2.12 list. Departing and returning has its own rules, covered in the companion article on the bar itself.

How long does the section 48 bar last?

There is no fixed time limit. Section 48 keeps applying for as long as both conditions in section 48(1) remain true: you are in the migration zone, and you do not hold a substantive visa. It stops the moment either condition changes — you are granted a substantive visa, including one of the visas prescribed under regulation 2.12, or you genuinely leave Australia.

Can I apply for a subclass 189 visa if I'm subject to the section 48 bar?

No. Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) has never been added to regulation 2.12's prescribed list, including by the 2021 amendment that added 190, 491 and 494. Holding enough points for a 189 invitation does not change this — the visa class itself is not one you can validly lodge onshore while the bar applies.

What visas can I apply for if none of the regulation 2.12 classes fit my situation?

If your case doesn't fit protection, partner, medical treatment, child, resolution of status, bridging, or a nominated 190/491/494, regulation 2.12 does not give you an onshore option. The remaining paths sit outside this regulation entirely: departing Australia to apply from offshore, or waiting until you're granted a substantive visa through one of the available routes. Both are covered in the companion article on the section 48 bar.

Do all states and territories nominate applicants who are subject to a section 48 bar for a 190 or 491 visa?

Not necessarily. Regulation 2.12 makes lodging a nominated 190 or 491 application legally possible, but the nomination itself is assessed separately by each state or territory program against its own current criteria, which change over time. Confirm directly with the nominating authority before assuming a section 48-barred application will be accepted — don't treat the regulation change alone as a guarantee.