Every onshore partner visa client fills in the same intake form with us. Three questions appear on it more than any others. Can I keep working? Can I leave the country? Can I enrol in a course? The answers live in a bridging visa most applicants never applied for, and in a grant letter many never read. This note works through the three questions and the one date that governs all of them.
In short: an onshore 820 application usually generates a Bridging visa A at no charge, and it takes effect only when your current visa ends. Leaving Australia needs a Bridging visa B, which costs $575 and must be granted before you fly.
The date that governs everything
A bridging visa keeps you lawful while the Department decides your application. It is temporary, not substantive, and it does not speed the partner visa up. Home Affairs grants nearly all of them automatically when a valid onshore application is lodged. You can see what you hold through VEVO.
Here is the part that catches people. A Bridging visa A does not start the moment it is granted. It comes into effect when your current substantive visa ceases. Until then, your existing conditions still bind you. A student visa's work limit keeps applying. A visitor visa's no-work condition keeps applying. Only when that visa ends do the bridging visa conditions take over.
Question one: can I keep working?
Work rights follow the conditions on your particular Bridging visa A. The grant letter sets them out, and VEVO shows them. Many partner visa applicants hold a BVA with full work rights. Some hold one with a work restriction.
If your BVA restricts work, you can apply for a further BVA that permits it. The Department will usually expect evidence of financial hardship, so gather bank statements, rent records and expense records first. Two situations block that route. One is a pending judicial review of a substantive visa decision. The other is a pending protection visa application.
Business owners ask us a version of this question every month. The Department treats work broadly, and running your own company is not exempt. If your bridging visa restricts work, the company can keep trading but you cannot work in it. Who runs it in the meantime is a question for our commercial practice as much as the migration team.
Question two: can I leave the country?
A Bridging visa A does not support return travel. If you leave while it is in effect, it ceases on departure. You would then sit offshore with a pending onshore application. A Bridging visa B, subclass 020, solves that. It lets you leave and return within a defined travel period, for single or multiple journeys, until a specified date.
Do you need to leave Australia while the 820 is pending?
Two rules trip travellers. You must hold the BVB before you leave. And you cannot change the conditions on a BVB. If it does not permit work, you would need a BVA that does, with hardship evidence. Before any flight, run this list.
Question three: can I study?
Bridging visas do not usually stop you from studying. Fee status is a separate question. Universities and TAFEs decide whether you pay domestic or international rates. Services Australia, not Home Affairs, decides eligibility for government study support. Confirm both before you enrol, because a budgeted course can otherwise cost several times more.
The three bridging visas at a glance
| Bridging visa | When it arises | Charge | Return travel | Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A (010) | Valid onshore application while holding a substantive visa | Nil | No, ceases on departure | Per the conditions in the grant letter |
| B (020) | Applied for when a BVA holder needs to travel | $575 | Yes, within the travel period | Conditions cannot be changed |
| C (030) | Valid onshore application without a substantive visa | Nil | No | Per the conditions, further BVC possible |
When the bridging visa ends
It ends when the partner visa is granted, when you withdraw, or when a refusal arrives. A BVA or BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016 then follows a set clock. It ends 35 calendar days after a refusal, or after a review tribunal decides the case. The same 35 days applies to a withdrawal. Where a judicial review body upholds a refusal, it ends 28 calendar days later.
Those windows are short. A tribunal application carries a fee of $3,727 and its own deadline. Read our note on review after a refusal the day a refusal lands, not the week after.
My BVA has not started yet. Which conditions apply to me?
The conditions on the visa you currently hold. A BVA granted while a student visa is still running sits in the background until that student visa ceases. Until then, the study and work conditions of the student visa apply in full. The switch happens automatically on the day the substantive visa ends, and VEVO will show the change.
Protecting your position during the wait
Read the grant letter, then confirm the conditions in VEVO. Keep building relationship evidence through the wait. Tell Home Affairs about a new address, a marriage or a baby. Plan travel early, because a BVB is not instant. Our note on partner visa timing covers the dates you still control. If your grant letter does not say what you expected, the migration practice can review it, so contact us before you act on it.
Figures verified against Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep running my company on a Bridging visa A?
Only if the BVA permits work, because the Department treats running a business as work. Check the conditions in your grant letter and VEVO. If work is restricted, seek a further BVA with evidence of financial hardship before you continue.
Can work rights be added to a Bridging visa B?
No. The conditions on a BVB cannot be changed. If your BVB does not permit work, the route is a Bridging visa A that does, supported by evidence of financial hardship.
How far ahead should I apply for a Bridging visa B?
As soon as the trip is likely. The BVB must be granted before you leave, and the travel period must cover your return. Booking flights first and applying later is the order that strands people overseas.
Does a bridging visa speed up the 820 decision?
No. It protects your status while the Department decides the partner visa. The decision itself follows the Department's priorities and your lodgement date, not the bridging visa.
What if the tribunal affirms the refusal while I hold a BVA?
A BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016 ends 35 calendar days after the tribunal's decision. That window is short, so get advice on the next step before the tribunal decides, not after.
General information as at 2 September 2026. Not legal advice. Speak to the migration team about your own circumstances before you act.