Bridging Visas Explained: BVA, BVB, BVC, BVD & BVE (Australia)

What each Australian bridging visa — A, B, C, D and E — actually lets you do, when each one applies, and where the real deadlines sit. Covers automatic grants, travel rules, the 28-day review window, and the re-entry bar for unlawful status. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 You might be on a
  2. 0:13 Bridging Visa A:
  3. 0:27 Leave the country on a BVA,
  4. 0:37 Bridging Visa B:
  5. 0:48 Bridging Visa C:
  6. 0:58 28-plus days unlawful?
  7. 1:09 Bridging Visa D:
  8. 1:19 Bridging Visa E:
  9. 1:31 Refused? About 28 days
  10. 1:43 Check your own VEVO record
  11. 1:56 Where to read more

Transcript

You might already be on a bridging visa in Australia without realising it — it's granted automatically the moment you lodge a new application before your old visa expires.

That's a Bridging Visa A. It's automatic, and it carries the same work rights as your last substantive visa — full rights carry over, and restrictions carry over too, like 40 hours per fortnight on a student visa.

There's a catch: if you leave Australia on a Bridging Visa A, it stops working the moment you depart, and you need a valid visa to come back in.

A Bridging Visa B fixes that — but you have to apply for it first. It usually gives a 3-month travel window, and you can apply for more than one if your wait drags on.

A Bridging Visa C means you applied after your last visa had already expired — so it comes with no work rights by default, and no travel at all.

Been unlawful for 28 or more days before you leave? A re-entry bar can apply — 3 years, for under a year of unlawful status, and possibly longer.

A Bridging Visa D is the shortest of all — a maximum of 5 days, needing a case officer's decision, used only to get a brief window to lodge something.

A Bridging Visa E is for people already unlawful who are arranging to leave or seeking ministerial intervention — usually restricted or no work rights, and treated as a last resort.

If an application is refused and no review or new application is lodged within about 28 days, the bridging visa expires — and after that, staying in Australia means being unlawful.

The only way to check your exact bridging visa and its conditions is your own VEVO record — and if your situation gets complicated, a registered migration agent is worth talking to before a deadline passes.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.

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