What is a Bridging Visa E (BVE)?

A Bridging Visa E is a temporary visa that allows a non-citizen to remain lawfully in Australia (under certain circumstances) where they do not hold a substantive visa.

There are two types of Bridging E visas:

Subclass 050 – general bridging visa
Subclass 051 – for protection visa applicants

When to Apply a Bridging Visa E?

You should apply for a Bridging Visa E as soon as you become an unlawful non-citizen e.g. your visa is cancelled or your substantive visa has ceased.

You can also apply for a further BVE if you already hold one but has work restrictions and you have a compelling need to work (E.g. suffering from financial hardship).

For an overview, you generally must meet at least one of the following circumstances to apply for a bridging visa E:

Making acceptable arrangements to leave Australia
Will make or have made a substantive visa application that has not been finally determined
Have made a judicial review proceeding
Merits review of visa cancellation decision

In some limited circumstances, you may be granted a Bridging Visa E without making an application.

What Conditions Do Bridging Visa E Contain?

Before the grant of your visa, you will most likely be interviewed by an officer. They will then decide what conditions to impose on your Bridging Visa E. Different conditions can be imposed depending on the reason you are using to apply for the Bridging Visa E.

The range of conditions include:

Reporting obligations – you are required to report to the Office of Immigration at a specified time
Notify of Change of Address immediately
No Work
Must depart by a certain date
Comply with all Australian laws

When will Bridging Visa E Expire?

Different expiry dates can be imposed. For example, in the case of a person applying for a bridging visa E under the grounds of making acceptable arrangements to leave Australia may have only a few weeks to finalise their matters before they must depart Australia.

In other cases, the BVE will either end 35 days or 28 days after a specific event such as the merits review case ending with the AAT, or the substantive visa application has been decided.