Subclass 020 visa: Bridging B

020 visa requirements

Home Affairs lists these criteria on the Eligibility tab of its Bridging visa B page:

• Substantive visa. The applicant must have held a substantive visa.
• Current bridging visa. The applicant must already hold a Bridging visa A or a Bridging visa B.
• A pending application or judicial review. A valid substantive visa application that has not been finally decided, or a refused application where judicial review was applied for in time and is not yet completed.
• Review applied for in time. Merits review must be applied for within the prescribed timeframe. Judicial review must be applied for within 35 days of the tribunal's decision.
• Substantial reasons to travel. The applicant gives a reason, with supporting documents, for needing to leave and return while the application or judicial review is pending.
• Age. Any age.
• Character. The applicant must meet the character requirement.

Home Affairs' overview also says the substantive visa applied for must be one that can be granted in Australia, and the applicant must be in Australia when they apply and at grant. A bridging visa can't be used while waiting for a citizenship application to be decided.

What the visa lets you do

According to Home Affairs' BVB page, the visa lets the holder:

• stay lawfully in Australia until the substantive visa application is finally decided, or, if granted for judicial review, until those proceedings are complete
• leave and return to Australia within the defined travel period while the application is processed
• work, if the BVB allows it.

Travel

Home Affairs says the BVB travel facility may be granted for single or multiple travel, and it can be used until a specified date. The grant notice states when the travel period ends.

• If the travel period has ended, or will not cover the planned trip, a new BVB must be granted before leaving Australia.
• If the holder is outside Australia when the travel period ends, the BVB ceases. A ceased BVB can't be used to return.

Work rights

A BVB holder might be allowed to work if the substantive visa they had, or the visa they applied for, lets them work. If both have work restrictions, the holder can't work on the BVB. The grant letter and VEVO show the conditions.

Conditions on a BVB can't be changed by applying for a new BVB. To change them, the holder must apply for a BVA and show financial hardship. Conditions on a bridging visa granted for a judicial review application can't be changed.

When it comes into effect and when it ends

A BVB comes into effect when it is granted (if the substantive visa has ended since the BVB application, or the BVB is more beneficial than the current bridging visa), or when the current substantive visa ends.

It ends when the substantive visa application is refused, a review is decided, an application or review is withdrawn, a tribunal says it has no jurisdiction, the substantive visa is granted, or the BVB or the substantive visa held at grant is cancelled. For a BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016, Home Affairs says it ends 35 calendar days after a refusal, invalid-application finding or withdrawal, or 28 calendar days after a judicial review body upholds a refusal or a judicial review application is withdrawn. A BVB granted before 19 November 2016 ends 28 days after these events.

The visa can't be extended; a new visa is needed to stay longer.

Family members and cost

If a family applied together for a substantive visa in Australia, Home Affairs says members of the family unit can be included in one BVB application with one visa application charge. Each family member must meet the BVB requirements in their own right. Home Affairs says to include only family members who have substantial reasons to leave Australia; others can stay on their current bridging visas.

Home Affairs' Visa Pricing table lists:

From 1 July 2026, a lower charge applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens. They must hold a valid passport from the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu. Home Affairs refunds the difference if the lower cost is not applied at lodgement.

Step by step

This follows the Step by step tab of Home Affairs' BVB page.

Before you apply

1. Check in VEVO that a BVA or BVB is held, and check the passport is valid. Home Affairs says a valid passport is usually needed for grant.
2. Apply no more than 3 months, and not less than 2 weeks, before the planned travel date. Home Affairs warns that applying too late risks leaving without a visa to return.
3. Gather identity documents and documents showing the reason for travel. For a child under 18 included in the application, consent is needed (Form 1229 or a statutory declaration) from anyone with a legal right to decide where the child lives who is not travelling with the child.

Apply

1. Apply the same way the substantive visa was applied for. If it was lodged in ImmiAccount, the BVB is lodged in ImmiAccount, with documents attached and the charge paid.
2. If the substantive visa was lodged on paper, or a review has been applied for, pay the charge first and then lodge Form 1006 by webform, including the payment receipt details.
3. Everyone in the application must be in Australia when it is lodged.

After you apply

1. Home Affairs confirms receipt. It does not give updates on processing times.
2. Home Affairs may ask for biometrics or more information.
3. The BVB must be granted before the holder leaves Australia, and everyone in the application must be in Australia at the time of decision.
4. Home Affairs gives its decision in writing, including the visa conditions.

Applying in or outside Australia

The BVB is an onshore visa only. Home Affairs says the applicant and anyone included in the application must be in Australia to make a valid application and to be granted the visa (BVB page).

020 visa processing time

Home Affairs publishes current processing times in its visa processing times guide.

Compare: BVA, BVB, BVC and BVE