Working while your PR application is pending and you hold a BVB in 2026: which conditions apply?

Where BVB work rights come from, how to check them in VEVO and your grant letter, and what to do if your BVB has no work rights.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

You can keep working while your permanent residence application is being processed, but the permission does not come from the Bridging visa B (BVB) (Subclass 020) itself. According to the Department of Home Affairs' Bridging visa B (BVB) (Subclass 020) official page, you might be allowed to work if the substantive visa you had or the visa you applied for lets you work — and your grant letter will tell you which conditions apply to your BVB.

Where does my permission to work actually come from?

A BVB is a bridging visa. Its function is to keep you lawful in Australia until your substantive visa application is finally determined, and to let you leave and return within a defined travel period. It does not carry a work entitlement of its own.

The official page frames the test in two directions, and you only need one of them to be satisfied:

you might be allowed to work if the substantive visa you held lets you work;
you might be allowed to work if the visa you have applied for lets you work;
if the visa you had and the visa you applied for both carry work restrictions, you will not be able to work while you hold the BVB.

That last point is the one most often missed. Being on a BVB is not a reset: if both sides of the comparison are restrictive, the bridging visa inherits the restriction rather than replacing it.

Whose conditions apply while the PR application is undecided — the old visa's or the BVB's?

It depends on timing, and the switch is mechanical rather than discretionary. A BVB comes into effect when it is granted (if your substantive visa has ceased since applying for the BVB, or where the BVB is more beneficial than your current bridging visa), or when your current substantive visa ceases.

Point in time	Conditions you must comply with
BVB granted while your substantive visa is still in force	the conditions of that substantive visa
Your substantive visa ceases	the conditions of the BVB

So if you still hold, say, a skilled or employer-sponsored visa with unrestricted work rights when the BVB is granted, you keep working under that visa's conditions. The day it ceases, the BVB conditions take over — which is why two people on the same bridging visa can be in materially different positions.

Your obligations listed on the official page reflect this: comply with Australian laws, comply with the conditions of your current visa, and comply with the conditions of your BVB once it comes into effect.

How do I check my own conditions?

Two places, both named on the official page: the grant letter, which tells you the conditions that apply to your BVB, and Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO), which shows your visa details and conditions, including whether you have work restrictions.

This article is general information only and is not personalised advice; what governs your situation is the condition set recorded against your own visa, read together with the official information as currently published. Where your circumstances are unusual, or your employer is relying on a particular reading of your conditions, treat the VEVO record and grant letter as the reference point.

What does this mean for an employer — and is there an hours limit?

There is no BVB-specific hours rule set out on the official page. Any limit on hours, or on which employer you may work for, travels through from the visa you held or the visa you applied for, and it appears as a condition in VEVO and your grant letter.

Assume an applicant held a Subclass 482 visa tied to one nominating employer and has since lodged an employer-nominated permanent application that is still undecided. The question — can this person keep working for that employer, or move to another one during the wait — is answered by reading the conditions attached to the visa in force at the time, not by the subclass label on the bridging visa.

Departmental policy guidance for decision makers (PAM3) records one employer-specific case: where an applicant held a Subclass 457 or 482 visa and applied for a subsequent visa of that kind, the BVB may be granted with a condition limiting work to a particular employer. Guidance is not legislation, and where it differs from the Home Affairs page the page governs; check the guidance as currently published before relying on it.

My BVB has no work rights — can I get the conditions changed?

No, not on the BVB. The official page states it is not possible to apply to change conditions on a BVB. If you want to change visa conditions, you must apply for a Bridging visa A (BVA) (Subclass 010), and as part of that process you must prove that you are in financial hardship. The same page adds a further limit: you cannot change the conditions on a bridging visa that was granted on the basis of a judicial review application.

This is also the point where the two bridging visas diverge in purpose. Policy guidance notes that the Subclass 020 criteria contain no financial, employer or sponsorship test and no "compelling need to work" provision, and directs a person who needs permission to work towards a BVA instead. The BVA is the route with a mechanism for work rights; the BVB is the route with a travel facility.

When does the BVB end, and does that end my work rights?

The BVB ceases once one of these outcomes occurs: your substantive visa application is refused; your merits or judicial review is decided; you withdraw your substantive visa, merits review or judicial review application; a merits review tribunal decides it has no jurisdiction; the associated substantive visa is granted; or the BVB (or the substantive visa you held when it was granted) is cancelled. Once you are notified of an outcome, VEVO shows exactly how long you can remain in Australia.

For a BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ends 35 calendar days after a refusal decision or an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision on the associated substantive visa application, a determination that the application or AAT review application is invalid, or your withdrawal of either. It ends 28 calendar days after a judicial review body upholds the refusal decision, or you withdraw a related judicial review application. For a BVB granted before that date, the official page sets 28 days after the listed notification or withdrawal events.

The BVB cannot be extended. If you wish to stay longer you must apply for a new visa. One related trap: if you are outside Australia when the specified travel period on your BVB ends, the visa ceases and you cannot return on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I work on a BVB while my permanent residence application is pending?

Yes, if the substantive visa you held or the visa you have applied for allows work. The Department of Home Affairs states you might be allowed to work if either of those visas lets you work, and that your grant letter sets out the conditions applying to your BVB.

Why does my BVB have no work rights when someone else's does?

Because the BVB has no work entitlement of its own and takes its conditions from the surrounding visas. If the visa you had and the visa you applied for both carry work restrictions, the official page says you will not be able to work while holding the BVB.

Can I apply to have the conditions on my BVB changed?

No. The official page states it is not possible to apply to change conditions on a BVB, and that you cannot change the conditions on a bridging visa granted on the basis of a judicial review application. The route for changing conditions is an application for a Bridging visa A (BVA).

What do I have to show if I apply for a BVA to get work rights?

The official page requires you to prove that you are in financial hardship as part of the BVA process. It does not, on that page, set out what evidence meets that requirement, so the current Home Affairs guidance on the BVA is the place to confirm the details.

How do I check what my own conditions are?

Use VEVO to see your visa details and conditions, including any work restrictions, and read the grant letter issued when your BVB was granted. The Department also lists your obligations as complying with Australian laws, the conditions of your current visa, and the conditions of your BVB once it comes into effect.

When do the BVB conditions start applying instead of my old visa's?

When your substantive visa ceases. If you hold a substantive visa when the BVB is granted, you must keep complying with that visa's conditions; the BVB conditions apply from the point the substantive visa ceases, or earlier if the BVB is granted as more beneficial than your current bridging visa.

How long do I have before the BVB ends after a refusal?

For a BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ends 35 calendar days after a refusal decision or AAT decision on the associated substantive visa application, an invalidity determination, or your withdrawal of the application or AAT review. It ends 28 calendar days after a judicial review body upholds the refusal, or you withdraw a related judicial review application.

Do family members included in my BVB get the same work rights?

Not automatically. The official page states each member of the family must meet the requirements for a BVB individually, and that the Department will notify you of the conditions that apply. Each person's own conditions need to be read from their grant letter and VEVO.