The 3-Year Re-Entry Ban: PIC 4013 and PIC 4014 Explained

Two Different Bans, Same 3-Year Structure

PIC 4013 and PIC 4014 both work the same way once triggered. Your next visa application is refused unless either 3 years have passed since the triggering event, or the Minister is satisfied of one of two things: 'compelling circumstances that affect the interests of Australia', or 'compassionate or compelling circumstances' affecting the interests of a specific Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. What differs between them is what triggers them in the first place.

PIC 4013: Triggered by Cancellation, Not Bare Refusal

PIC 4013 is triggered by the cancellation of a visa you previously held under one of a specific list of sections, not by simply being refused a visa you applied for but never held. This is worth stating precisely because it's commonly misread. A refusal with no cancellation involved does not attract PIC 4013 on its own. Instead, a refusal engages a different mechanism, the section 48 bar on which visa classes remain open to you onshore, and potentially the Schedule 3 criteria covered in our overstay guide.

What Counts as a PIC 4013 Trigger

You're affected by a PIC 4013 risk factor if a visa you previously held was cancelled:

- Under section 109 (false or misleading information), section 116(1)(d), section 116(1AA) or (1AB), or section 133A
- Under section 128 (offshore cancellation without notice), where the ground relied on was the section 116(1)(d)-equivalent one
- Under section 133C, on the section 116(1)(d)/(1AA)/(1AB) grounds
- Under section 116, 128, or 133C because you were found to have worked without authority
- Under section 116, 128, or 133C for breaching a condition specified for your visa subclass
- Under section 116, 128, or 133C for a student-visa genuine-student ground, or one of a range of other prescribed grounds
- Under section 116, 128, or 133C because of a health or safety risk ground

Working without authority sits directly on this list. If a work-condition breach leads to a cancellation, that cancellation itself can carry a 3-year exclusion risk factor into your next application, not just end your current visa.

What's Notably Not on the List

Character (section 501) cancellations are not among PIC 4013's trigger grounds. If your visa was cancelled on character grounds, you're facing a different, separate framework for future applications, not the fixed 3-year PIC 4013 clock described here. If that's your situation, see our guide to character cancellations rather than assuming the timing and waiver rules on this page apply to you.

The 3-Year Clock and the Two Waiver Tests

Once PIC 4013 is engaged, your next application is refused unless it's made more than 3 years after the cancellation, or the Minister is satisfied of one of two things: 'compelling circumstances that affect the interests of Australia', or 'compassionate or compelling circumstances that affect the interests of' a specific Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. Both tests are demanding, and both are about someone else's interests, Australia's or a named person's, not simply your own reasons for wanting to come back sooner.

PIC 4014: Triggered by How You Left, Not Why You Left

PIC 4014 is a separate provision with the same 3-year structure and the same two waiver tests, but a different trigger. You're affected if you left Australia as an unlawful non-citizen, or as the holder of a Bridging C, Bridging D, or Bridging E visa. It doesn't matter whether the departure was voluntary or a removal. What matters is the immigration status you held at the exact moment you left.

The 28-Day Exception That Changes Everything

PIC 4014 doesn't apply if either of the following is true: you left Australia within 28 days after your substantive visa ceased, or a bridging visa you held at the time of departure was granted within 28 days after your substantive visa ceased, or while you held another bridging visa granted within that same chain. In plain terms, let your visa lapse and leave, or secure a bridging visa, within 28 days of that lapse, and PIC 4014 simply doesn't engage. Miss that window, say you leave on day 40 with nothing bridging the gap, and the 3-year exclusion is live, running from your departure date.

Voluntary Departure Does Not, By Itself, Avoid This

This is worth stating directly because it corrects a common and dangerous assumption. Leaving voluntarily does not, on its own, avoid PIC 4014. What decides whether the ban applies is the 28-day timing rule above, not whether you booked your own flight versus being removed by an officer. Someone who overstays by 60 days and then voluntarily books a flight home is in exactly the same PIC 4014 position as someone removed on day 60. The exclusion risk factor is engaged either way, because both left the country as an unlawful non-citizen, well outside the 28-day window.

Where Voluntary Departure Does Genuinely Help

Voluntary departure isn't pointless. It changes your experience of leaving, just not your PIC 4014 exposure. Arranging your own departure while still free to move avoids ever being detained in the first place. The Department also runs a dedicated program for people leaving voluntarily, offering return counselling and help arranging travel documents and support with the practical side of leaving, separate from and independent of any ongoing immigration matter. If you're already unlawful and thinking about leaving, the genuinely useful move is checking the 28-day math, or getting it checked, before you book anything, and considering a bridging visa first so the departure is planned rather than rushed.

If You're Already Facing a PIC 4013 or 4014 Exclusion

If 3 years haven't passed and you need to apply sooner, your only path is the waiver test: showing compelling circumstances affecting Australia's interests, or compassionate or compelling circumstances affecting the interests of a specific Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen you're connected to. This is evidence-and-argument work: identifying which of the two tests genuinely fits your situation, and building a case that persuades a delegate under a demanding standard. This is exactly the kind of engagement a registered migration agent is suited to, and it's a high-stakes piece of work worth engaging properly rather than attempting once under time pressure.

Does being refused a visa, with no cancellation, trigger the 3-year ban?

No. PIC 4013 is triggered by the cancellation of a visa you previously held, not by a bare refusal. A refusal instead engages the section 48 bar on what you can apply for onshore, and potentially Schedule 3 criteria if you're already unlawful. See our overstay guide.

If I leave Australia voluntarily, do I avoid the 3-year ban?

Not automatically. PIC 4014 is triggered by the immigration status you held when you left, not by whether the departure was voluntary. Only the 28-day timing exception avoids it: leaving, or securing a bridging visa, within 28 days of your substantive visa ceasing.

What's the actual difference between PIC 4013 and PIC 4014?

PIC 4013 follows the cancellation of a visa you held. PIC 4014 follows leaving Australia while unlawful, or on a Bridging C, D, or E visa. They share the same 3-year structure and the same two waiver tests but different triggers.

Can I get an exception to come back sooner?

Both provisions allow the Minister to be satisfied of one of two things: compelling circumstances affecting Australia's interests, or compassionate or compelling circumstances affecting the interests of a specific Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. Both are demanding tests focused on someone else's interests, not simply your own reasons for returning.

Does having a bridging visa when I leave protect me from PIC 4014?

Only if that bridging visa was itself granted within 28 days of your substantive visa ceasing, or chains back to one that was. A bridging visa granted well after that window doesn't retroactively protect a late departure.

Are character (section 501) cancellations covered by PIC 4013?

No. Section 501 cancellations aren't on PIC 4013's list of triggering grounds. They sit under a separate framework for future applications. See our guide to character cancellations for that specific situation.