Bridging Visa E: Who Gets It, Its Conditions, and What It Means After a 482 Ends

A Bridging Visa E (subclass 050) keeps a person with no substantive visa lawful in Australia while they arrange to leave, apply for another visa, seek review or ask for ministerial intervention, and there is no fee to apply. It can be applied for only by a person who is already unlawful or holds a Bridging Visa E or D, the decision is made while they are in Australia, and it ends as soon as the holder leaves (Home Affairs Bridging visa E (subclass 050) page, updated 8 August 2025). Leaving on a Bridging Visa E can bar a new 482 for 3 years under public interest criterion 4014, unless the person left, or was granted the bridging visa, within 28 days of their substantive visa ending, so check the dates before booking travel.

What is a Bridging Visa E, and who gets one?

A Bridging Visa E is the status-resolution bridging visa: it keeps a person lawful while their situation is settled. The Home Affairs subclass 050 page (updated 8 August 2025) names four purposes:

1. arranging to leave Australia;
2. applying for a substantive visa;
3. seeking merits or judicial review of a visa or citizenship decision;
4. seeking ministerial intervention.

The applicant must be an unlawful non-citizen, a Bridging Visa E (050) holder or a Bridging Visa D (041) holder at the time of applying. There is no age limit, and a character requirement applies. Subclass 051 is limited to certain protection visa applicants.

A Bridging Visa E cannot be applied for “in anticipation of becoming unlawful”, according to the same page. While a substantive visa is still in effect, other options come first.

What conditions come with it? (work rights, reporting, travel)

The conditions are set in the grant letter, and the Regulations name them by their Schedule 8 numbers (cl 050.611 to 050.613 of the Migration Regulations 1994):

• Work. The grant letter says whether work is allowed; condition 8101 means no work. Working without permission can lead to cancellation, detention and removal (Home Affairs subclass 050 page). A new Bridging Visa E that allows work is possible only in some situations, such as financial hardship.
• Reporting. Conditions 8401 or 8402 require the holder to report at the time and place set.
• Address. Condition 8505 requires the holder to live at the address given, and condition 8506 requires them to tell Home Affairs before any change of address.
• Departure. Condition 8512 requires the holder to leave Australia by the date set, and related conditions such as 8511 deal with showing a ticket.
• Study. Conditions 8207 or 8548 limit study.
• Travel. A Bridging Visa E ends on departure and gives no right to return.

The Bridging Visa B is the bridging visa that does allow travel; the Bridging Visa B conditions, the travel period and the cost are explained separately.

How do you apply, and how long does it take?

Home Affairs points applicants to its visa processing time guide tool for an indication of processing times, which it describes as a guide only and not specific to any application.

What happens when it ends? (departure and re-entry exclusion periods)

A Bridging Visa E ends in one of four ways: on the date or event set at grant; on departure from Australia; on the grant of a substantive visa; or on cancellation of the Bridging Visa E. Leaving can then start an exclusion period.

The 3-year exclusion (PIC 4014)

A person who left Australia as an unlawful non-citizen, or on a Bridging Visa C, D or E, cannot be granted a visa that applies public interest criterion 4014 within 3 years of leaving, unless compelling circumstances apply. The exclusion does not apply if they left within 28 days of their substantive visa ending, or held a bridging visa granted within that time or while they held a substantive visa. The 482 applies PIC 4014 (cl 482.217).

The cancellation exclusion (PIC 4013)

A visa cancelled on some grounds, for example for working without authority, or under section 109 or section 116(1)(d) of the Migration Act 1958, brings an exclusion of 3 years from visas that apply public interest criterion 4013, and the 482 is one of them. The full list of grounds is in PIC 4013 in Schedule 4 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

Can you apply for another visa while on a Bridging Visa E?

Not a 482 in Australia. A valid onshore 482 application needs a substantive visa or a Bridging A, B or C visa (Sch 1 item 1240(3)(d)). After a refusal or cancellation in Australia, section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 allows only the visa classes listed in reg 2.12. A 482 can still be applied for from outside Australia, subject to PIC 4013 and PIC 4014.

On a 482: when a Bridging Visa E follows a 482 that ends or is cancelled

Five rules apply when a 482 comes to an end:

• Expiry with nothing lodged. A 482 that expires with no new application lodged leaves the holder unlawful. Leaving within 28 days avoids PIC 4014.
• Cancellation. A cancelled 482 leaves the holder unlawful unless another visa is held, and a Bridging Visa E bridges the gap while review is sought.
• Review of a cancellation. An application to the Administrative Review Tribunal is due within 28 days of notification (s 347(3)), made by the person while in Australia (s 347A(2)).
• Condition 8607. Its limits of 180 days in a row and 365 days in total without a sponsor apply while the 482 is held, and a breach of a visa condition is a ground on which Home Affairs may consider cancelling the visa (Migration Act 1958, s 116(1)(b)).
• Return travel. The former sponsor still pays return travel if asked in writing, until the worker has another visa or leaves (Home Affairs 482 change in situation page).

An immigration lawyer makes a later 482 more likely because they work out, before a 482 lapses or on the day a cancellation notice arrives, whether a Bridging Visa E is the right bridge at all: leaving on one can start a 3 years exclusion from a new 482 under public interest criterion 4014, while leaving within 28 days of the substantive visa ending avoids it.

Supplementary: 482 cancellation

A Bridging Visa E often follows a cancellation. A notice of intention to consider cancellation gives a holder in Australia 5 working days to respond, and that response is the holder’s chance to put their side before Home Affairs decides. How a notice of intention to consider cancellation works, and what happens after a 482 visa cancelled decision, is set out step by step.