Bridging visa work rights: what employers need to check

A bridging visa only carries work rights if its conditions allow work. Some do, some limit hours or employers, and some (especially a first Bridging visa C) don't allow work at all. The only reliable way to know is to check the worker's current conditions on VEVO, and to check again when their visa situation changes.

This guide covers the main bridging visa types, when they do and don't let someone work, and how to manage a worker whose visa is "pending".

This is general information, not migration or legal advice. Bridging visa rules are detailed and change often. Check the current position with the Department of Home Affairs before you rely on it.

What a bridging visa is

A bridging visa lets someone stay in Australia lawfully while something else is sorted out, usually a decision on a new "substantive" visa (a visa such as a Student, Skilled or Partner visa). Bridging visas are not substantive visas, and they have their own conditions.

For employers, the key point is this: a bridging visa doesn't automatically copy the work rights of the visa the person had before. Each one is granted with its own conditions, and they come into effect at a set point.

The main bridging visa types

Here's how Home Affairs describes work rights for each, as at October 2026.

Bridging visa	Who usually holds it	Work rights
Bridging visa A (BVA, subclass 010)	Someone who applied for a new visa while holding a valid substantive visa	Depends on the conditions on the BVA. These often reflect the person's previous visa or the visa they applied for, but you need to check.
Bridging visa B (BVB, subclass 020)	A BVA or BVB holder who needs to travel and come back	May work if the visa they had, or the visa they applied for, lets them work. If both have work restrictions, they can't work on the BVB.
Bridging visa C (BVC, subclass 030)	Someone who applied for a new visa when they didn't hold a substantive visa	The first BVC usually doesn't allow work, unless the person applied for one of a short list of skilled or business visas (such as subclass 186, 189, 190, 491 or 494).
Bridging visa E (BVE, subclasses 050 and 051)	Someone making arrangements to leave, waiting on an immigration decision, or resolving their status	Varies. Check the conditions on VEVO.

People on a BVA or BVC that doesn't allow work can apply for a new bridging visa that does, usually by showing financial hardship. So a worker who couldn't work last month might be able to now, and the reverse can also happen.

When a bridging visa comes into effect

This catches a lot of employers out. When someone applies for a new visa while still holding their current one, they're often granted a bridging visa straight away, but it isn't in effect yet.

Home Affairs says that if the person holds a substantive visa when the bridging visa is granted, they must keep complying with that substantive visa's conditions. When the substantive visa ends, the bridging visa comes into effect and its conditions apply.

In practice:

• Before the old visa expires: the worker's old conditions still apply. A student is still on 8105 and its 48-hour fortnight (see our guide to visa conditions 8105 and 8104).
• The day after it expires: the bridging visa's conditions apply. They might be the same, broader or narrower.

Mark the old visa's expiry date in your calendar, and check VEVO again once it passes.

Common conditions you'll see on a bridging visa

Bridging visas carry the same numbered conditions you see on other visas. As at October 2026, the ones that matter most for work are:

• 8101 (No work): the holder can't work in Australia.
• 8104 or 8105 (Work limitation): the student hour limits. Under condition 8105, the 48-hour fortnight also applies to a bridging visa granted on the basis of a Student visa application.
• 8547 (Employer work limitation): carried over from a Working Holiday visa. Home Affairs says a bridging visa holder with 8547 who wants to work more than 6 months for the same employer needs a new BVA without that condition.
• No work condition at all: the holder can generally work without limitation.

Read the condition wording on the VEVO result rather than relying on the number alone.

How to check bridging visa work rights on VEVO

Employers check through VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online), the free Home Affairs system. You register for an ImmiAccount, and the worker gives you permission to check. Our guide to running a VEVO check as an employer covers the steps.

On a bridging visa result, look at:

1. Visa class and subclass: for example BVA 010 or BVC 030.
2. Whether the visa is in effect. If it isn't, the person's previous visa still governs what they can do.
3. Work entitlements and conditions, such as 8101 or 8105.
4. The visa it's linked to, if shown. A bridging visa lasts until the related application is decided, so there's often no fixed expiry date.

Save the result with the date you ran it. That dated record is what shows you checked.

What to do when a worker says their visa is "pending"

"My visa is pending" usually means they've applied for a new visa and hold a bridging visa while they wait. It doesn't tell you whether they can work. Before their first shift:

• Ask for their visa grant number or passport details so you can run a VEVO check.
• Check what's in effect today. If their old visa hasn't expired, its conditions still apply.
• Check the bridging visa's conditions for when it takes over.
• Don't roster them on assumption. If VEVO shows no work rights, they can't start, even if the application is likely to succeed.
• Diarise the next check, such as their old visa's expiry date.

If VEVO shows a no-work condition, the worker can talk to Home Affairs or a registered migration agent about applying for a bridging visa with work rights. That's their application to make, not yours.

Re-check when the decision lands

Bridging visas end when something changes. Home Affairs says a BVA, for example, ends immediately if the person is granted the visa they applied for, is granted another bridging visa for the same application, leaves Australia while it's in effect, or has the visa cancelled. If an application is refused, the bridging visa usually continues for a set period or while a review is underway, then ends.

So whenever a worker tells you there's news, or you haven't heard anything for a while, run VEVO again:

• Granted: record the new visa, its conditions and its expiry date.
• Refused: check what's in effect now and whether work rights still apply. Get advice before you keep rostering them.
• No news: a regular re-check (say monthly) catches changes your worker might not mention.

Why this matters for your business

Home Affairs says it is against the law to hire a non-citizen who doesn't hold a valid visa, or to have someone do work that goes against their visa conditions. Penalties under the Migration Act can include fines, being declared a prohibited employer, and criminal prosecution or civil penalties. Using a labour hire company doesn't remove your obligations. See Home Affairs' information for employers and labour hire organisations.

Bridging visas are where checks go stale fastest, because the worker's status can change without anything changing on site.

How Canyou handles this

Onboarding gets them into payroll. It doesn't keep them legal to work. Canyou checks work rights during onboarding and keeps watching, which matters most for labour hire and agriculture businesses with a lot of temporary visa holders.

• Visa details collected on the worker's phone. Add a Visa details task to your employee onboarding workflow.
• Work rights checked with the Department of Home Affairs. An admin runs the VEVO check from the worker's record. The result shows visa status, class and subclass, expiry date, work entitlement and any conditions. See completing a visa check.
• Run a new check at any time. When a worker says their decision has come through, re-run the check from their record in a couple of clicks.
• Notice before a visa expires, so you know when an old visa is about to end and a bridging visa takes over.
• Every check kept on file as an audit trail, so you can show what you checked and when. See visa check basics.

See how work-rights checks work. Then Try for free (plans are on the pricing page) or Book a demo.

Sources (checked 2 October 2026): Department of Home Affairs, Bridging visa A (subclass 010), Bridging visa B (subclass 020), Bridging visa C (subclass 030), Bridging visa E (subclasses 050 and 051), 6 month work limitation (8547), Check conditions online (VEVO).