How Long Can Skilled PR Applicants Stay on Bridging Visa A After an AAT Refusal? (2026)

After the AAT affirms a skilled visa refusal, most Bridging Visa A holders have 35 days. How that window works and what to decide in it.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

If your Bridging Visa A (BVA) (subclass 010) was granted on or after 19 November 2016 and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) affirms the refusal of your skilled visa application, your BVA ceases 35 calendar days after that AAT decision. If your BVA was granted before 19 November 2016, the period is 28 days. Those two periods come from the Department of Home Affairs' official Bridging visa A (BVA) (Subclass 010) page, which also directs holders to VEVO to see the exact date recorded against their own visa. This article is general information about how the rule works, not advice about your individual situation; where the outcome matters, rely on the currently published official position and on advice from a registered practitioner.

What exactly does the 35 days run from?

The official page sets out a closed list of events, and the cease date follows the event rather than any separate notice you later receive. For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ceases 35 calendar days after:

the refusal decision, or a decision by the AAT, in relation to the associated substantive visa application;
a determination that the substantive visa application, or an application for AAT review, is invalid;
you withdraw the substantive visa application or the application for AAT review.

The 28-day period applies instead, for these visas, where a judicial review body upholds the decision to refuse the substantive visa, or where you withdraw a related judicial review application. For BVAs granted before 19 November 2016, the single rule is 28 days after notification of any of the listed outcomes, including notification that a merits review tribunal has upheld the refusal.

Because the public page does not spell out how the first day is counted, the practical reference point is the date shown in VEVO. The Migration Regulations 1994 express the same rule from the decision-maker's side: "if the Minister's decision in respect of that application is to refuse to grant a visa... 35 days after the Minister makes the decision."

Does applying for judicial review extend bridging visa A?

No. There is no rollover. The Department's page states plainly that if a merits review tribunal upholds the refusal decision and you apply for judicial review, you will need to apply for a bridging visa to maintain lawful status during the judicial review proceedings, and that an application made because you have applied for judicial review can only be made by webform. The existing BVA runs on its own 35-day countdown regardless of what you file.

The Migration Regulations 1994 add two conditions for this pathway. Under clause 010.211(3), the substantive application must have been refused, judicial review must have been applied for within the period allowed, and you must have held a BVA or BVB at the time you applied for judicial review. There are no separate criteria for family members — the instrument records "Secondary criteria: Nil" for subclass 010 — so a partner or child does not ride automatically on your eligibility.

Practitioner guidance drawn from the Department's PAM3 material treats the judicial review filing deadline after an AAT decision as the same 35-day statutory period, and notes that where notification is defective the visa may not cease when expected. Those points sit outside the public visa page; treat them as issues to raise with advice rather than assumptions, since the court's own time limits and any extension of them are set by the court.

What can and cannot be done with the 35 days

The window is short enough that most of the damage happens through assumptions rather than through delay. The official page forecloses several options people commonly rely on:

You cannot extend the BVA. "You can't stay in Australia longer by extending this visa." Staying lawfully beyond the cease date requires a new visa.
Leaving Australia ends it immediately. An in-effect BVA ceases on departure and cannot be used to return. If you need to travel and come back while a substantive application is on foot, a Bridging Visa B must be granted before you leave.
Work rights do not reset. Your conditions carry over from the bridging visa you held, shown in VEVO. If your new BVA is granted because you applied for judicial review, and it prevents or restricts work, you cannot be granted another BVA that allows work; a work-permitting BVA otherwise usually requires demonstrating financial hardship.
Lodging another application is not listed as extending this BVA. Whether a new application attracts its own bridging visa depends on that application's rules — check VEVO rather than assuming coverage.

A decision checklist for the window

For a skilled migration applicant, the real question in these weeks is not counting days but choosing between two mutually exclusive tracks, because departure burns the bridge and judicial review requires an immediate second step.

Read the decision itself and the VEVO record together. Confirm which of the listed outcomes it is — refusal affirmed, invalid application, no jurisdiction — and note the cease date shown for you.
Check every family member separately. Each included person holds their own bridging visa record, and each must satisfy the primary criteria in their own right.
If judicial review is the choice, sequence it deliberately. Filing review does not keep you lawful by itself; a bridging visa application, made by webform, must follow, and it rests on you having held a BVA or BVB when review was filed.
If departure is the choice, plan to the VEVO date, not to an estimate. Departure ends the visa at the border and there is no re-entry on it afterwards.
Verify your work conditions before you keep working. They may differ from what you held during the AAT review, and the JR-linked route cannot be used to lift a work restriction.
Keep the notification and any withdrawal confirmation. These documents establish which event occurred and when.

What happens after judicial review is decided

If the judicial review body upholds the refusal, a post-19 November 2016 BVA ceases 28 calendar days later; withdrawing the judicial review application produces the same 28-day result. Separately, the visa ends immediately if you are granted the substantive visa, leave Australia while it is in effect, are granted another bridging visa in relation to the same substantive application, or the BVA or associated substantive visa is cancelled.

The official page does not set out a distinct calculation for a decision that is quashed and returned for reconsideration, so that situation cannot be answered by applying the 35-day or 28-day rule by analogy. The continuing or ceased status of the bridging visa in that scenario belongs to the current record in VEVO and the Department's published guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it 35 days or 28 days after an AAT refusal?

Both figures are real, and which one applies depends on when your BVA was granted. For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ceases 35 calendar days after an AAT decision on the associated substantive visa application. For a BVA granted before that date, the visa ceases 28 days after notification of the relevant outcome.

How do I find my exact last lawful day?

Use VEVO. The Department's official Bridging visa A page states that once you have been notified of an outcome you can see exactly how long you can stay there. The date shown on your record governs, and dates for included family members should be checked individually.

Do I stay lawful automatically once I file for judicial review?

No. The Department's page says you need to apply for a bridging visa to maintain lawful status during judicial review proceedings, and that such applications can only be made by webform. Under clause 010.211(3) of the Migration Regulations 1994, you must also have held a BVA or BVB when the judicial review application was made.

Can I extend my bridging visa A while I decide?

No. The official page states you cannot stay longer by extending this visa and that you must apply for a new visa to remain. The 35 days is spent either preparing a judicial review package plus its webform bridging visa application, or arranging departure.

What happens if I lodge another skilled visa application before the 35 days end?

Lodging another application is not itself listed as extending the existing BVA. Whether that application attracts its own bridging visa is determined by its own rules, so the safe check is VEVO rather than assuming that having something on foot keeps you lawful.

Can I travel during the 35 days?

Not and return on this visa. An in-effect BVA ceases on departure from Australia and does not support return travel; travelling and coming back while a substantive application is undecided requires a Bridging Visa B granted before you leave.

Do my partner and children get the same cease date?

Not automatically. Family members included in your application hold separate bridging visa records, and subclass 010 has no secondary criteria, so each person must satisfy the primary criteria independently. Each date should be read separately in VEVO.