At VJ Consulting and Education, we work with applicants navigating AAT reviews and bridging visa conditions every day, and understanding your rights at each stage can make a significant difference to your outcome.
Can I travel while on AAT?
The short answer is no — not unless you have specifically been granted a Bridging Visa B (BVB) before you depart.
When an applicant lodges an AAT review of a refused visa, they are typically granted a Bridging Visa A (BVA) to maintain lawful status while the review is heard. A BVA keeps you in Australia legally, but it carries a critical restriction: if you depart Australia while holding only a BVA, the visa ceases on departure. You will not be able to re-enter Australia on that bridging visa, and your AAT proceedings will effectively become moot from a residency perspective.
To travel and return while your review is pending, you must apply for a BVB before you leave. A BVB is a separate grant — it is not automatic — and it requires you to demonstrate a compelling reason for travel (such as a family emergency or professional obligation). The Department has discretion to attach return conditions, including a specific date by which you must re-enter.
In practice, it is relatively uncommon for the Department to grant a BVB to someone mid-AAT proceedings without strong grounds, and applicants should not assume approval. If travel is unavoidable, apply for the BVB with supporting documentation well before the intended departure date. Departing without a BVB in hand is one of the more consequential errors an applicant can make during the review period, and there is generally no remedy once the departure has occurred.
Can I apply for another visa while on AAT?
Yes, but with important structural constraints that determine whether the application is legally valid and strategically sound. In VJCE's experience handling these cases, applicants who carefully map out the structural constraints before lodging a secondary application tend to avoid common pitfalls that can undermine their review position.
While an AAT review is on foot, the applicant holds a bridging visa and remains lawfully in Australia. This means they retain the ability to lodge certain visa applications — but not all applications are available to bridging visa holders. Some visa subclasses (notably most employer-sponsored visas) require the applicant to be either offshore or to hold a substantive visa at the time of application. Lodging these applications while on a bridging visa will typically result in an invalid application or an immediate refusal at the basic eligibility stage.
Visa subclasses that can generally be applied for while on a bridging visa include: onshore partner visas, certain student visas, and protection visas (subject to their own complex eligibility rules). However, lodging a new application while an AAT review is pending creates a layered legal situation. If the new application is granted, the bridging visa and the AAT proceedings effectively resolve together. If the new application is refused, the applicant may hold multiple bridging visas simultaneously, each with potentially different conditions.
The analytical question to ask before lodging is: does the target visa subclass permit onshore applications from bridging visa holders, and does lodging it carry any risk of affecting the AAT proceedings? In some cases, lodging a new application can be read as withdrawing engagement with the original review stream, though this depends on the specific visa type. Getting independent advice before lodging a concurrent application during active AAT review is strongly recommended.
Can I work while on a bridging visa in Australia?
It depends on the conditions attached to the specific bridging visa grant — and those conditions are not uniform. VJ Consulting advisers generally recommend that clients confirm their specific bridging visa work conditions in writing before accepting any employment, as assumptions about work rights are among the most frequent compliance issues we see.
For Bridging Visa A holders, the general rule is that work rights mirror those of the substantive visa being bridged. If the refused visa included full work rights (as most skilled and employer-sponsored visas do), the BVA will typically carry those rights forward. However, this is not guaranteed. The grant letter will specify whether work is permitted, and applicants should read that document carefully rather than relying on an assumption about what the previous visa allowed.
For Bridging Visa C (BVC) holders — which are granted when a person applies for a visa while already unlawful — no work rights attach by default. Work rights on a BVC must be specifically applied for and approved, and the threshold for approval requires demonstrating financial hardship. This is a meaningful distinction: an applicant who departed a substantive visa without lodging a valid further application before it expired will likely find themselves on a BVC with restricted conditions.
For Bridging Visa E (BVE) holders — commonly issued to people who have overstayed or are in the process of finalising departure arrangements — work rights are rarely granted as a standard condition and must be separately requested with supporting justification.
The practical framework for assessing work rights is: bridging visa subclass → check conditions on the grant notice → if conditions are silent or restrictive, apply for a variation before commencing work. Working without authorisation on a bridging visa is a serious breach and can affect future visa applications.
Does a bridging visa lead to permanent residency?
No — a bridging visa is a status-maintenance instrument, not a pathway to permanent residency in its own right. From cases handled at VJCE, a common pattern is that applicants initially overestimate the pathway potential of their bridging visa status, which is why clarifying long-term strategy early — separate from the immediate bridging arrangement — is consistently valuable.
A bridging visa exists to keep an applicant lawfully in Australia while something else is resolved: a visa application, a review proceeding, or a departure process. It does not accumulate towards any residency threshold, and time spent on a bridging visa does not count towards citizenship eligibility or towards the residency requirements of most substantive permanent visas.
The confusion arises because bridging visas are often held for extended periods — sometimes years — particularly during AAT proceedings. It can feel as though this time should count for something. In immigration law, it largely does not. The 4-year total residency (including 1 year as PR)As of current · homeaffairs.gov.au clock for citizenship, for example, counts time on a permanent visa, not on bridging arrangements.
There is one narrow exception worth noting: some applicants on bridging visas do transition to permanent residency, but only because the underlying substantive application (whether the original or a subsequent one) is eventually approved. The permanent residency comes from that visa grant, not from the bridging visa itself.
The practical implication is significant: an applicant who spends 3 yearsAs of current · homeaffairs.gov.au on a BVA awaiting AAT review has not moved closer to PR purely by virtue of that time. What matters is the outcome of the review or any concurrent application. Planning should focus on the substantive visa pathway, not on treating bridging status as a residency accumulation mechanism.
Next Step
Navigating AAT review while managing bridging visa conditions is one of the more technically demanding situations in Australian immigration — small procedural errors, such as departing without a BVB or lodging a concurrent application in the wrong sequence, can have consequences that are difficult or impossible to reverse. If your circumstances involve an active review, a concurrent application, or uncertainty about your bridging visa conditions, consulting a MARA-registered migration agent before taking any action is sound practice. VJ Consulting offers structured advice for applicants in exactly this position.
This article is intended as general guidance only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa requirements, fees, and processing times change regularly — always verify details on the relevant authority's official website before making decisions. For advice specific to your circumstances, consider consulting a MARA-registered migration agent.
References
- Australian Department of Home Affairs — Bridging visa conditions and work rights: homeaffairs.gov.au
- Administrative Appeals Tribunal — Migration and refugee review: aat.gov.au
- Australian Department of Home Affairs — Bridging Visa B (travel) application: homeaffairs.gov.au
- Services Australia — Medicare eligibility for temporary residents: servicesaustralia.gov.au
- Australian Department of Home Affairs — Citizenship residency requirements: homeaffairs.gov.au
Related reading
For full context on navigating setbacks in your visa journey, visit the What if Problems? stage; if you want to understand how the review process itself works before focusing on your rights, Appealing an Australian Visa Refusal: AAT Reviews Explained provides a clear walkthrough of what to expect at every step.
