All about Bridging Visa..... What is a bridging visa? A Bridging visa is a visa which is typically held whilst waiting for a visa application to be processed. Typically it has no fixed expiry date, and doesn’t allow travel outside of Australia. This is in contrast to a substantive visa which has a fixed validity period and allows a person to stay in Australia for a specific purpose. A typical bridging visa scenario would be where a working holiday maker, Frank, applies for a 457 visa whilst in Australia. Frank would be granted a Bridging A visa which allows them to stay legally in Australia after his working holiday visa expires. How long does a bridging visa last for? A bridging visa is generally valid until 28 days after a decision is made on the main visa application. So in Frank’s case, if his 457 visa application is refused, his bridging A visa would cease 28 days after the decision is made. Should I hire someone who is on a bridging visa? Bridging visa holders typically have work rights. However, as the bridging visa would typically cease within 28 days of a refusal, employers should regularly check the immigration status of employees holding bridging visas to ensure that they continue to have work rights. Do bridging visas have full work rights in Australia? Employers should carefully check the work conditions on bridging visas, as holders do not always have full work rights. In general, a Bridging A visa will have the same work rights as the visa held at the time of application. For instance, in Frank’s case, his Bridging A visa will have the same 6-month work limitation as his Working Holiday visa (ie condition 8547). However, if he held a visitor visa when he lodged, he would have no work rights on his Bridging A visa as a visitor visa does not allow work in Australia. In other cases, the Bridging A will have unlimited work rights. This is the case where the person has applied onshore for an ENS (subclass 186), RSMS (subclass 187) or General Skilled Migration visa (subclass 189, 190 or 489). What are the Different Types of Bridging Visa There are 9 different bridging visa types. However, the most commonly encountered ones are as follows: bridging visa table Which bridging visas can you work with? Bridging A and B visas generally have the same work rights as the visa held when the main visa application was lodged, and in some cases full work rights will apply. Bridging C and E visas have no work rights when granted, and an application must be made for the grant of work rights. Applicants would typically need to demonstrate financial hardship for work rights to be granted in this situation. As work rights for bridging visa holders vary considerably depending on the situation, employers should check work conditions very carefully in the case of bridging visa holders. How can I make sure my employee can work on their bridging visa? Use vSure or VEVO to confirm which work conditions apply to your employee’s bridging visa. Make sure that you continue to check regularly during employment to ensure that the bridging visa continues to be in effect. If an employee’s bridging visa ceases, they may not be able to continue working for you, so make sure that you discuss the situation with the employee well ahead of time. - See more at: vsure.au/can-your-employee-work-on-a-bridging-visa/ Contact us for your queries WEM Consultants
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 06:10:49 +0000
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