What is a Bridging visa B?
A Bridging visa B, or BVB, is subclass 020: a visa that lets an eligible BVA or BVB holder leave and re-enter Australia while a valid onshore substantive visa application remains undecided. Under regulation 020.212(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, that application must be for a visa that can be granted in Australia and must not yet be finally determined.
The Home Affairs “Bridging visa B (subclass 020)” page explains the application process and travel period. The BVB is not an unrestricted permission to leave and return whenever you choose: its travel facility has an end date stated at grant.
Who can get a Bridging visa B?
For the pending onshore application route, Part 020 of the Migration Regulations 1994 sets these six requirements:
- Hold a BVA or BVB. Regulation 020.211 requires you to already hold one.
- Have a qualifying pending application. Under regulation 020.212(2), you must have made a valid application in Australia for a substantive visa that can be granted in Australia, which is not yet finally determined.
- Have substantial reasons to leave and return. Regulation 020.212(2) requires reasons the Minister accepts as substantial.
- Meet the public-interest test. Under regulation 020.213, your return must not be contrary to the public interest.
- Meet the passport criterion. Regulation 020.223 requires PIC 4021.
- Be in Australia at application and grant. Home Affairs’ BVB page and regulation 020.411 require you to be in Australia, not in immigration clearance.
Holding a BVA satisfies only the existing-visa requirement. It does not replace the substantial-reasons test or the other requirements in Part 020.
How to apply for a Bridging visa B
Check the timing first. Home Affairs’ “Bridging visa B (subclass 020)” page says to apply no more than 3 months and no less than 2 weeks before travel. Work backwards from your intended departure date.
Choose the correct application channel. The same Home Affairs page says to use ImmiAccount if your substantive visa application was made there. Otherwise, or during merits or judicial review, use Form 1006, “Application for a Bridging visa B”, and submit it by webform. The supplied Form 1006 has design date 10/21.
State your reason and attach evidence. Home Affairs asks for supporting documents explaining why you need to leave and return while your substantive application is being decided. Make the explanation and documents address both parts of the trip.
Check each family member separately. Home Affairs permits family members who applied together to be included on one BVB application, but each must meet the criteria in their own right. Include only those with substantial reasons to travel; Schedule 1 item 1302 provides a nil additional charge for included family members.
Stay in Australia until grant. Under regulation 020.411 of the Migration Regulations 1994, you must be in Australia, not in immigration clearance, when the BVB is granted. Lodging an application is not the same as receiving a BVB.
Bridging visa B cost and processing time
$575 is the Bridging visa B base application charge from 1 July 2026, under Schedule 1 item 1302 of the Migration Regulations 1994; Home Affairs’ price API also returned AUD575.00 when checked on 3 October 2026.
There is no published processing time on Home Affairs’ “Bridging visa B (subclass 020)” page, updated 1 July 2026. No number of days or weeks can therefore be given here as a Department processing estimate.
Under Schedule 1 item 1302, added family members have a nil charge, so one charge covers those included in the application. A primary applicant holding a Pacific-regional passport has a $195 charge from 1 July 2026.
The 3-month-to-2-week application window is not a processing-time range. Home Affairs expressly says that an application made too late may not be granted before departure.
What counts as substantial reasons for a Bridging visa B?
“Substantial reasons” means reasons for leaving and re-entering Australia that the Minister accepts as substantial under regulation 020.212(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994.
Home Affairs’ “Bridging visa B (subclass 020)” page asks you to give a reason and attach documents explaining why you need to leave and return while the application is decided. It does not publish a list of accepted reasons.
That means there is no published checklist of reasons that guarantees acceptance. Rather than treating a trip category as automatically sufficient, explain your own reason and provide documents supporting it. The question is whether the Minister accepts that reason as substantial, not whether BVB applications are generally “easy” or “hard”.
The Bridging visa B travel window
The Bridging visa B travel window is the period during which you are permitted to travel to and enter Australia. Under regulation 020.511 of the Migration Regulations 1994, that facility runs until the time set by 020.511(1)(b), or an earlier time the Minister specifies. Home Affairs states the travel period’s end at grant, and the facility may permit one trip or several.
Read the granted travel period rather than assuming a standard duration. The application window before departure and the granted travel window are different: the first is Home Affairs’ advice on when to apply; the second controls when you are permitted to return.
According to Home Affairs’ BVB page, if you are outside Australia when the travel period ends, the BVB ceases and cannot be used to return. Each trip after that period ends requires another BVB, granted before you leave Australia.
Travelling during 858 processing: when a BVA holder needs a BVB to come back
A BVA holder travelling during 858 processing needs a BVB to return on a bridging visa. Home Affairs’ “National Innovation visa (subclass 858)” page, updated 4 September 2026, says applicants are allowed to travel during processing without telling the Department, but need a visa to return.
The Migration Regulations 1994 allow an 858 grant in Australia under regulation 858.411. Therefore, an applicant who made a valid onshore 858 application and holds a BVA meets the existing-visa and qualifying-application parts of regulations 020.211 and 020.212(2)(a). The substantial-reasons test still applies.
Home Affairs’ National Innovation visa program page says the visa application is lodged in ImmiAccount. Under the BVB page’s channel instructions, the associated BVB application is therefore also made in ImmiAccount.
Section 82(8) of the Migration Act 1958 ends a BVA in effect when its holder departs; the Bridging visa A guide answers can you travel on a Bridging visa A, and why it ends when you leave.
Departure does not itself end the pending 858 application. The Regulations allow grant outside Australia under regulation 858.411, so the application can continue while you are overseas. That is separate from permission to return: Home Affairs still requires you to have a visa for re-entry.
Bridging visa B, travel and section 48
Travel on a Bridging visa B does not lift an existing section 48 bar. Under section 48(3) of the Migration Act 1958, a person who leaves and re-enters while holding a bridging visa is treated as having been in Australia continuously.
Section 48(1)(b)(i) also provides that a relevant refusal applies “whether or not the application has been finally determined”. Pending review therefore does not, by itself, lift the bar. Do not treat a BVB trip as a reset of your onshore application position.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Bridging visa B last?
For travel, use the end date Home Affairs states at grant, subject to any earlier time the Minister specifies under regulation 020.511 of the Migration Regulations 1994. There is no single travel duration stated for every BVB.
What are the conditions of a Bridging visa B?
For eligibility, Part 020 of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires a BVA or BVB, a qualifying pending onshore substantive application and substantial reasons. Home Affairs also requires you to be in Australia, not in immigration clearance, at application and grant.
Is it hard to get a Bridging visa B?
The legal test is whether the Minister accepts your reasons as substantial under regulation 020.212(2). Home Affairs publishes no list of accepted reasons and asks for supporting documents, so a general difficulty rating would not answer that test.
Can you travel on a Bridging visa B?
Yes, within the travel period stated at grant. Home Affairs’ BVB page says that if you are outside Australia when that period ends, the BVB ceases and cannot be used to return.
Can family members travel on one Bridging visa B?
Home Affairs allows family members who applied together to be included in one BVB application with one charge. Each person must meet the criteria independently, including having substantial reasons to travel.
Can you apply for a Bridging visa B from overseas?
No. Home Affairs’ BVB page and regulation 020.411 require you to be in Australia, not in immigration clearance, both when applying and when the visa is granted.
Leaving Australia while the 858 is processed
Plan departure and return against separate deadlines. Home Affairs’ BVB page says to apply 3 months to 2 weeks before leaving and return before the granted travel period ends; if you are still outside Australia at its end, the BVB ceases. The application guide explains what happens after you apply for the 858 visa, step by step.
Keep the substantive application’s waiting time separate from the BVB decision. See 858 visa processing time for that application’s timing information; Home Affairs publishes no BVB processing time.
If your 858 visa is granted while you are overseas, regulation 858.611 of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires your first entry before the date the Minister specifies. Home Affairs’ National Innovation visa page says that, for citizenship purposes, permanent residence starts on your first entry on that visa when it was granted outside Australia.
Ask an Australian migration lawyer to check your substantial reasons, supporting documents, travel dates and Bridging visa B application window before you leave Australia.