Protection visa applicants and Bridging visa B: what changed on 1 November 2026?

The visa application supporting the BVB must be for a visa other than Protection. That application must either remain not finally determined, or be the subject of judicial review sought within the statutory time limits, with those proceedings, including any appeals, still incomplete.

A substantive visa is a visa other than a bridging, criminal justice or enforcement visa. It is the separate visa application relied on to support the BVB.

A separate exclusion applies if you have a valid Protection application that has not been finally determined or withdrawn, or judicial review concerning a valid Protection application remains incomplete, including any appeal proceedings.

The grant rules also exclude Protection as the supporting visa application and apply a separate Protection restriction at the BVB decision stage.

ART merits review and judicial review are different processes. The ART reconsiders the merits of a decision, while judicial review concerns whether there was a legal error in making it. “Finally determined” has a legal meaning linked to the applicable ART review rights and outcomes. The current BVB guidance expressly includes Protection matters awaiting an ART outcome. The legislation separately covers unfinished judicial-review proceedings concerning the valid Protection application, including proceedings on appeal.

The stage and legal status of the matter need checking against the actual decisions and review records. The existence of a court case is not an exception allowing a Protection applicant to obtain a new BVB.

The Explanatory Statement specifically explains that the measure also addresses people with more than one substantive application under consideration. A pending application for another visa is not itself permission to travel or re-enter Australia.

For this distinction, check the date of the BVB application. An earlier Protection application does not preserve access to a new BVB application lodged after the change. Continuing to process an earlier BVB application is not a promise that it will be granted.

A BVB's travel facility has a defined end date, and permission to remain in Australia is not the same as permission to return after departure. Home Affairs warns affected Protection applicants that an expired BVB travel facility cannot be renewed by obtaining another BVB or requesting further travel. Do not assume an old grant provides an ongoing travel option.

Only a BVB provides travel and return rights among bridging visas. If you already hold a substantive visa with usable travel rights, those rights and conditions must be assessed separately. Applying for a substantive visa is different from holding one, and return is not guaranteed merely because an application exists.

Home Affairs explains that condition 8559 restricts entry to the country or countries from which protection was granted unless written approval is obtained before travel. A Protection grant is therefore not permission to travel anywhere without checking the visa's conditions and travel facility.