Status & refusals · Exclusion periods
Exclusion periods: PIC 4013 and PIC 4014, the three-year bars and how to avoid them
Two public interest criteria decide whether a person who was cancelled or overstayed can come back on a temporary visa. PIC 4013 follows a visa cancellation and runs three years from the cancellation. PIC 4014 follows a departure after being unlawful, or on a bridging visa granted to an unlawful person, and runs three years from the departure, with one exception that turns on 28 days. Neither touches permanent visas, both can be waived for a particular application, and both are decided by what you do in the weeks after the visa ends.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - PIC 4013
- 3 years from a cancellation
- PIC 4014
- 3 years from a late departure
- Exception
- Left, or applied for a BVE, within 28 days
- Applies to
- Most temporary visas
- Does not apply to
- Permanent visas
- Waiver
- Compelling or compassionate circumstances
The migration agent that other migration agents learn from. WIDEN is an OMARA-approved CPD provider — our training is rated ★4.8 by 40+ registered migration agents.
About the CPD →MARN 1576536
Thirty minutes to know which bar applies, from when, and which visa it leaves open.
In the consultation I take your dates, the cancellation or expiry and the departure or the plan to depart, and tell you which criterion is engaged, when it ends, whether the 28-day exception can still be met, and whether the visa you want is one the bar touches at all. If a waiver is the route, you hear what evidence it needs before you spend on an application.
What it costs. $330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full against our professional fee if you engage WIDEN. Advice confirmed in writing after the session.
PIC 4013: after a cancellation
Where a visa was cancelled under most of the cancellation powers, including cancellation for incorrect information and cancellation on general grounds, whether made in Australia or while the holder was overseas, an application for a temporary visa that carries PIC 4013 is refused if lodged within three years of the cancellation, unless the exclusion is waived. The period runs from the date of the cancellation decision. A cancellation that is later revoked or set aside on review is treated as never having happened, which is one reason a revocation request or review is worth running even for a person who has already left. Character cancellations under section 501 sit under their own, stricter provisions and are dealt with in the character guide.
PIC 4014: after a late departure
Where a person left Australia as an unlawful non-citizen, or as the holder of a Bridging Visa C, D or E granted to them while unlawful, an application for a temporary visa that carries PIC 4014 is refused if lodged within three years of the departure, unless waived. The period runs from the date you left, not from the date the visa ended. It catches the person who overstayed and later went home quietly, and it is discovered years afterwards when a visitor or student visa is refused with a reference to a criterion they have never heard of.
The 28-day exception
PIC 4014 does not apply where the person left Australia within 28 days of the substantive visa ceasing, or where they applied for a Bridging Visa E within those 28 days and left while it was in effect. The second limb is the practical one: a person who cannot be on a plane within four weeks can still stay inside the exception by lodging the BVE in time and leaving before it ends. Twenty-eight days is counted from the day the visa ceased, including weekends, and it is not extended for any reason. A person who misses it by a day is excluded for three years. The Bridging Visa E guide covers the application.
Which visas carry them
Both criteria are written into most temporary visas: visitor, student, working holiday, the 482 and other temporary work visas, the 485, training and temporary activity visas, and others. Neither is written into permanent visas. That is the single most useful fact in this area, because it means a person who is excluded from a visitor visa for three years can still be granted a partner visa, a permanent employer-sponsored visa or a permanent skilled visa, if they qualify for it on its own criteria. The choice of the next visa is therefore not only about what you want; it is about what the exclusion leaves open.
The waiver
Each criterion can be waived for a particular application where there are compelling circumstances that affect the interests of Australia, or compassionate or compelling circumstances that affect the interests of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The common cases are an Australian partner or child whose circumstances require the person's presence, a parent's serious illness, or an employer whose business is affected in a way that matters beyond the employer. Hardship to the applicant alone is not enough. The waiver is asked for and decided within the visa application, with evidence, and it lifts the bar for that application only; another application inside the period needs its own.
How they combine with section 48
Section 48 is an onshore application bar: after a refusal or cancellation, a person without a substantive visa can lodge only certain visas from inside Australia. PIC 4013 and 4014 are grant bars: for three years, most temporary visas cannot be granted, wherever the application is made. A person whose visa was cancelled in Australia is typically caught by both: s48 limits what they can lodge here, and if they leave, 4013 limits what they can be granted for three years. A person who overstayed without any refusal or cancellation is caught by neither until they leave late, when 4014 starts. The plan for each person is different, and the section 48 guide covers the onshore side.
Planning the departure
- Know the date the substantive visa ceased. VEVO shows it; the grant notice confirms it.
- If the 28 days have not passed, lodge the Bridging Visa E now and book travel inside its period.
- If they have passed, decide the next visa before leaving, because whether the three years matter depends entirely on which visa it is.
- If a cancellation is the trigger, check whether revocation or review is still open; a cancellation that falls away takes PIC 4013 with it.
- Keep the departure record. The exception is proved with dates, and the Department's movement records are what it checks.
Book a consultation — $330 inc. GST, credited
General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Public Interest Criteria 4013 and 4014, Schedule 4 of the Migration Regulations 1994, as in force at the date above. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
Not sure which visa fits you?
Answer three questions. An automated guide points you to the route that usually applies. General information only.
Ask Keshab a question — it costs nothing
Tell Keshab your situation and your question. Keshab reads it personally and replies within a business day. Asking costs nothing. Advice on your own case is the paid consultation.
Ready now? Skip the form. Pick a time and talk to Keshab directly — your documents on the table, a straight answer, and a written summary afterwards. $330 inc. GST, credited toward your fee if you engage.
Pick a time — no enquiry needed →Questions we get asked first
I overstayed by two months and left. Can I come back?
Not on most temporary visas for three years from the date you left, unless the exclusion is waived for your application. PIC 4014 is written into visitor, student, working holiday, temporary work and most other temporary visas. It is not written into permanent visas, so a partner visa, for example, is not affected by it.
I left within 28 days of my visa ending. Does the bar apply?
No. The exception covers a person who left Australia within 28 days of the substantive visa ceasing, or who applied for a Bridging Visa E within those 28 days and left while it was in effect. That is why the first month after a visa ends matters more than anything else in this area.
My visa was cancelled. How long is the bar?
Three years from the cancellation under PIC 4013, for the temporary visas that carry it. It runs from the cancellation date, not from when you left, and it applies whether the cancellation happened in Australia or while you were overseas.
Can the exclusion be waived?
Yes, for a particular application, where there are compelling circumstances affecting the interests of Australia or compassionate or compelling circumstances affecting the interests of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The waiver is decided inside the application it is needed for; it does not end the period, so a later application inside the three years needs its own.
Is this the same as the section 48 bar?
No. Section 48 stops you lodging most applications from inside Australia after a refusal or cancellation. PIC 4013 and 4014 stop you being granted most temporary visas for three years after a cancellation or a late departure, wherever you apply from. A person can be caught by one, both, or neither, and the plan has to answer each.
What does the consultation cost?
A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full if you engage WIDEN. For a person deciding whether to leave now or later, the session is the arithmetic and the visa choice that follows from it.
Keep reading