I migrated to Australia many years ago — how do I prove my permanent residency in 2026?

How pre-1990 migrants can prove Australian permanent residency in 2026, and which form applies when VEVO shows no record.

Published: 14 October 2026

If your last arrival in Australia was before 1990 and you have not travelled overseas since, you can still prove your permanent residency — but not through VEVO alone. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Proof of permanent residence and Check visa details and conditions pages, as at October 2026 official pages, a pre-1990 arrival who has not left Australia may have no electronic visa record at all, and in that case the department's process is to request that your permanent visa be recorded electronically using one of two specific online forms. If instead you arrived before 1 June 1959, or you are a New Zealand citizen who arrived before 1 September 1994 without a permit, you follow a different path: you may be treated as a former Australian permanent resident and apply directly for a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or subclass 157), without first obtaining an electronic record.

This article is general information about how the published rules are structured, not personalised advice on your own immigration history; your circumstances should be checked against the current official pages or with a registered migration professional before you lodge anything.

What VEVO can and cannot tell you

Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) is the department's system for checking visa details and conditions. For an in-effect visa it shows which visa you hold, the expiry date, the must-not-arrive-after date, the period of stay, and the conditions attached. It cannot show details of visas that are not in effect.

For permanent residency purposes, VEVO only works if there is an electronic visa record of your permanent visa and that record is linked to your passport or Immicard. Where the record does not exist, VEVO returns nothing useful, and the absence of a record is not evidence that you lost your status — it is usually evidence that your visa was never migrated into the department's electronic systems.

Step one: confirm you genuinely have no electronic record

Before touching either form, run a VEVO check on your current passport. Two different situations get confused constantly, and they have different solutions:

You have an electronic record, but it is linked to an old passport. The department handles this through its You have a new passport process, not through the pre-1990 forms.
You have no electronic record at all. This is the situation the two forms below are built for.

Getting this wrong is not a minor administrative slip. The department states plainly that if none of the available forms apply to your circumstances and you submit one anyway, the request will not be processed. There is no partial assessment and no re-direction: the request simply stops.

Which of the two forms applies to you?

Read both sets of conditions in full before choosing. The department's help page for requesting an electronic visa record exists for exactly this purpose, and the forms themselves set out who may use them based on individual circumstances and immigration history.

	Request for an electronic visa record of your permanent visa	Request for Authority to Return or Return Endorsement to be recorded as a BF-111 visa
Who it is for	Pre-1990 permanent visa holders with no electronic record	Holders of an Authority to Return or Return Endorsement issued as a wet stamp between 1 March 1976 and 31 December 1986
Core conditions	Last entered Australia before 1990 as a permanent visa holder; need an electronic record; not the holder of an Authority to Return or Return Endorsement issued between 1 March 1976 and 31 December 1986	Never departed and remained outside Australia for more than three consecutive years after the Authority to Return or Return Endorsement was issued; never granted a substantive visa since 1 September 1994
Outcome	Your permanent visa is recorded electronically so VEVO can show it	The old wet-stamp authority is recorded in current systems as a BF-111 visa

The two forms are mutually exclusive by design. Holding an Authority to Return or Return Endorsement issued in that 1976–1986 window rules out the first form; not holding one rules out the second.

The BF-111 form: what counts as a "substantive visa since 1 September 1994"

The second form's exclusion is narrower than it first looks. Four categories are carved out and do not disqualify you: an Electronic Travel Authority (subclasses 956, 976, 977 or 601) granted on or after 1 July 2002; a Border visa (subclass 773) granted on or after 1 July 2002; a Visitor visa (subclass 600) granted under the Business Visitor stream in conjunction with an APEC Business Card; and a Special Purpose visa.

If you hold an Authority to Return or Return Endorsement and are considering this request, the department directs you to read its Authority to Return or Return Endorsement page first.

Arrived before 1 June 1959, or a New Zealand citizen who arrived before 1 September 1994?

This group is handled separately from the electronic-record requests, and conflating the two is the most common reason applications stall.

You may be considered a former Australian permanent resident — and therefore eligible to apply for a Resident Return visa — if either of the following applies, and in each case you can prove you usually resided in Australia before 1 September 1994:

you arrived in Australia before 1 June 1959 and have not left Australia since your arrival; or
you arrived before 1 September 1994 as a New Zealand citizen without a permit.

You need an RRV if you wish to travel overseas and re-enter Australia as a permanent resident. Critically, if you have no electronic visa record with the department, you do not have to request one before lodging your RRV.

What documents prove residence when there is no electronic record

For an RRV lodged in these circumstances, the department asks for three categories of material:

Evidence of your first arrival to Australia. New Zealand citizens must also provide evidence of any subsequent travel in and out of Australia.
Identity documents.
Documents proving your residence in Australia.

Assume a New Zealand citizen who arrived in 1992 without a permit and has since travelled out and back several times. The first-arrival evidence alone will not carry the application; the subsequent travel record is what allows the department to assess whether the person usually resided in Australia before 1 September 1994.

If you have no intention to travel and re-enter Australia but still need an electronic visa record to prove your status — for government services, employment records or similar — then the electronic-record request route described above is the one that applies.

Where the ImmiCard fits

The ImmiCard serves a different function. It helps certain visa holders access government services in Australia, and for eligible holders it is an official travel document for first travel to and entry into Australia. The department's ImmiCard eligibility page repeats the pre-1990 warning: if you migrated before 1990 and have not travelled overseas since, you may not have an electronic visa record, and the Proof of permanent residence process is the reference point. The two ImmiCard types — Evidence of Immigration Status and Australian Migration Status — are tied to specific visa cohorts, including several bridging, humanitarian and protection subclasses, rather than to pre-1990 permanent residents as a class.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does VEVO show nothing for me when I have lived in Australia since the 1970s?

Because VEVO can only display a visa that already exists as an electronic record linked to your passport or Immicard. The department's VEVO page notes that if you migrated to Australia before 1990 and have not travelled out, you might not have an electronic record, and directs you to the Proof of permanent residence process to have one created.

Do I need an electronic visa record before I apply for a Resident Return visa?

No, not if you fall into the pre-1 June 1959 or pre-1 September 1994 New Zealand citizen categories. The department states that you do not have to request an electronic record before lodging your RRV, provided you supply the supporting documentation with the application.

My old passport has an Authority to Return stamp from 1982. Which request do I make?

You would look at the request to have that Authority to Return or Return Endorsement recorded as a BF-111 visa, but only if it was issued between 1 March 1976 and 31 December 1986 as a wet stamp in your old passport. Holding such an authority excludes you from the general electronic visa record form.

What happens if I submit a form that does not match my circumstances?

The department states that it will not process the request. Each form explains who can use it based on individual circumstances and immigration history, so the conditions should be checked against your own record before you submit rather than after.

I am a New Zealand citizen who arrived in 1993 without a permit. What evidence matters most?

Evidence of your first arrival, your identity, and your residence in Australia before 1 September 1994. Because you are a New Zealand citizen, you must also provide evidence of any subsequent travel in and out of Australia, which is what lets the department test the "usually resided" requirement.

Does an ImmiCard prove my permanent residency?

Not in the way VEVO does. The ImmiCard helps certain visa holders access government services and can act as a travel document for first entry, and the eligibility page points pre-1990 migrants back to the Proof of permanent residence process for the electronic record question.