Resident Return Visa (Subclass 155 / 157) — Expired Travel Facility and Long Absences

MARN 1576536

Why you need one

A permanent visa is granted with a travel facility, usually five years, during which the holder can leave and re-enter Australia. After that date the holder remains a permanent resident while in Australia but cannot re-enter from overseas without a new travel facility. The Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) provides it. Permanent residents who left Australia and stayed away, and former residents who left decades ago, both use it; the criteria differ with the time spent in Australia and the time away.

The 5-year Resident Return visa

A permanent resident who has spent at least two of the last five years in Australia as a permanent resident or citizen is granted a 155 with a five-year travel facility. The application is straightforward: evidence of permanent residence and of the time in Australia, which the Department can see from movement records. Most residents who travel regularly fall into this category and apply shortly before each facility expires.

The 1-year visa: substantial ties

A permanent resident who has not spent two of the last five years in Australia can still be granted a 155, with a one-year travel facility, if they have substantial ties of benefit to Australia: business, cultural, employment or personal ties. Personal ties include close family in Australia and a history of residence and visits; employment ties include an Australian employer or work for an Australian organisation overseas; business ties include ownership or active involvement in an Australian business; cultural ties include recognised contribution to Australian cultural or intellectual life. The ties have to be shown to exist and to benefit Australia, and the evidence is what decides it.

Absences of more than five years

Where the applicant has been absent from Australia for a continuous period of five years or more since last holding a permanent visa, the Department must also be satisfied there were compelling reasons for the absence. The longer the absence, the more the reasons matter and the more they need evidence: caring for a sick relative overseas, a posting or employment that could not be refused, a spouse’s career, study, illness, or circumstances beyond the applicant’s control. An absence explained only by “life got busy” is the usual reason for refusal in these cases.

The 3-month 157

The subclass 157 gives a three-month travel facility to a permanent resident who does not qualify for a 155, has spent at least one day in Australia in the last five years as a permanent resident, and had compelling and compassionate reasons for leaving Australia (and, if outside Australia, for being away). It is a narrow visa for people who need to travel urgently and return, not a solution for long absences.

Former permanent residents and pre-1994 New Zealand citizens

A person whose last permanent visa ceased long ago can still apply for a Resident Return visa under the substantial-ties limb: the test is the ties, not the recency of residence, subject to the compelling-reasons test for the absence. This includes New Zealand citizens who were in Australia before 1 September 1994, who were taken to be permanent residents at that time and so count as former permanent residents. It is a frequently misunderstood point: the pre-1994 status matters for the Resident Return visa, not for the separate “eligible New Zealand citizen” status, which depends on presence in Australia on 26 February 2001 or the surrounding period. A New Zealand citizen may also have a simpler route through the Special Category visa on arrival and the direct citizenship pathway, with a partner on the 461 visa; which route is better depends on the family’s plans.

Partners and family

A Resident Return visa is personal. A partner who is not a permanent resident needs their own visa: a partner visa sponsored by the returning resident, or, for partners of New Zealand citizens, the 461. The sequence matters: the resident’s own status has to be settled before sponsoring, and the time it takes shapes when the family can move together.

General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. 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.