Sponsoring a worker who is on a bridging visa: which bridging visas allow an onshore 482, the section 48 bar, what the worker may do before the grant, and the employer’s checks

MARN 1576536

Which bridging visa, and what is behind it

A bridging visa holds a person lawfully in Australia while something else is resolved, and the something else is what matters to the sponsorship: a bridging visa A is granted to a person who applied for a visa while holding a substantive visa and whose application is pending or under review; a bridging visa C to a person who applied while not holding a substantive visa; a bridging visa E to a person who became unlawful or whose other bridging visa ended, to arrange departure or await a matter. The class tells the employer part of the story, and the rest is whether the application behind the bridging visa is still pending, has been refused, or was lodged after the worker became unlawful, because the Migration Act's section 48 bars a person who has had a visa refused or cancelled since their last entry, and who holds no substantive visa, from applying in Australia for most visas, with the 482 not among the exceptions. A worker on a bridging visa A from a pending partner application is a routine onshore 482 candidate; a worker on a bridging visa A from a student visa refused in March, now at the Tribunal, cannot lodge the 482 onshore at all. The bridging visa A guide covers the visa itself.

The bridging visa A from a pending application

A worker holding a bridging visa A because a partner, skilled, student, graduate or other application is pending and has not been refused holds no substantive visa, but section 48 does not reach them because no refusal has occurred since their last entry, and they may lodge the 482 in Australia; the 482 application brings a new bridging visa A, which takes effect when the current one ends, carrying the work conditions the regulations attach, and the worker continues on the current bridging visa's conditions until then. The nomination and the visa run as for any onshore applicant, and the employer's timeline is the ordinary one. A worker in this position who has two applications pending, the earlier one and the 482, keeps both unless their adviser says otherwise, and the bridging visa that applies is the most recent one granted and in effect. The existing employee guide covers the three checks on the role that apply here as to any candidate.

The refusal since the last entry and section 48

A worker whose visa application was refused while they were in Australia, who is now on a bridging visa while the Tribunal reviews the refusal or while they arrange to leave, is barred by section 48 from applying onshore for any visa other than the ones the regulations list, which include a partner visa with conditions, a protection visa and a few others and do not include the 482, 494 or 186; the nomination can be lodged, because it is the employer's application, and the worker lodges the 482 from outside Australia once the nomination is approved or lodged, returning on the grant. A 482 lodged onshore by a barred worker is not a valid application, the charge is lost, and the worker's bridging visa position is unchanged; an employer who paid the nomination charge for a worker who then lodged invalidly has a nomination it can use once the worker applies correctly from abroad, within the nomination's validity. A worker who is unsure whether a refusal occurred is asked for the Department's letters; a refusal is a letter with a decision and review rights, and VEVO does not show it. The section 48 guide sets out the bar and the exceptions, and the invalid application guide what an onshore 482 against the bar becomes.

The bridging visa E

A worker on a bridging visa E has, in most cases, been unlawful at some point since their last entry, by overstaying or by a cancellation, and holds the bridging visa E to arrange departure or to await an application or a review; section 48 applies where a visa was refused or cancelled since the last entry, and the Schedule 3 criteria apply to some onshore applications by a person who was unlawful, so that a 482 onshore is barred in most bridging visa E cases and the worker applies from abroad on the nomination. A bridging visa E carries no work rights unless granted, so the worker cannot start before the grant in any case. An employer offered a candidate on a bridging visa E reads the candidate's history with the consultation before paying anything, because the history bears on the visa's prospects even offshore. The work rights guide covers the bridging visa E holder's position.

The bridging visa C

A bridging visa C is granted to a person who applied for a visa while not holding a substantive visa, commonly a person whose earlier visa had expired by days before they applied, and it carries no work rights unless granted; whether a 482 can be lodged onshore depends again on whether a refusal has occurred since the last entry and on the Schedule 3 criteria for a person who was unlawful when they applied, which the consultation reads for the case. A worker on a bridging visa C cannot work for the employer before the grant unless work rights are granted on the bridging visa on the hardship ground.

The employer's checks before paying the charges

1. VEVO, with the worker's consent: the bridging visa class, its conditions, and its status; the VEVO guide covers the check.
2. The bridging visa grant letter, which states the application it was granted in connection with.
3. The question, asked plainly: has any visa application been refused, or any visa cancelled, since you last entered Australia? With the Department's letters if yes.
4. The status of the underlying application: pending, refused and under review, withdrawn.
5. The work conditions on the bridging visa, which decide whether the worker can start before the grant and on what hours.
6. The worker's history before the bridging visa, because the 482 application will disclose it and the Department will read it.

An employer who pays the nomination charge and the levy before these checks, for a worker who turns out to be barred onshore, has a nomination that is still usable from abroad, and a timeline that has moved by months.

Can the worker start before the grant

Until the 482 is granted the worker holds the bridging visa, and the bridging visa's conditions govern what they may do: a bridging visa A from a 485 or a partner application carries full work rights, and the worker may start with the employer in any role, subject to the Fair Work Act, while the 482 is decided; a bridging visa A from a student visa carries the fortnightly hours limit during term, and the worker may work only those hours; a bridging visa A from a visitor visa carries no work rights; a bridging visa C or E carries none unless granted. An employer who employs a bridging visa holder beyond their conditions commits an offence under the Act's provisions on allowing a non-citizen to work in breach of a condition, as well as causing the worker's breach, and the VEVO check is the defence. The 482's grant lifts every limit and the worker starts in the nominated position on the nominated terms from that date, within the 90 days. The work rights guide sets out each bridging visa's conditions.

The pending application: keep or withdraw

The worker's pending application is the reason the bridging visa exists, and withdrawing it before the 482 is lodged ends the bridging visa, after the period the regulations allow, and may leave the worker unlawful and barred; the 482 is lodged first, the new bridging visa A is granted, and only then does the worker, with their own adviser, decide whether to keep the earlier application running. A pending partner visa is commonly kept, because it is a permanent visa and the 482 is not; a pending student visa may be withdrawn once the 482 is lodged; a pending skilled visa is kept if it is likely to be granted. The employer does not make the sponsorship conditional on the withdrawal of the worker's other application, does not advise the worker on it, and reads the withdrawal guide only to understand what the worker's adviser is weighing.

The offshore sequence

1. The employer lodges the sponsorship, if needed, and the nomination, with labour market testing unless exempt.
2. The worker prepares the 482 application, the skills assessment, the English test, the police certificates and the health examination, while in Australia on the bridging visa.
3. When the nomination is approved, or lodged where timing requires, the worker departs Australia; the bridging visa ends on departure, and the worker's adviser decides what happens to the review or the pending application.
4. The worker lodges the 482 from outside Australia, linked to the nomination.
5. The Department decides the visa, which for an offshore 482 runs to the published times, and the worker returns on the grant to start within 90 days of arrival.
6. The employer plans the position around the months the sequence takes, and reads the processing time guide.

A worker with a Tribunal review pending who leaves Australia may lose the review, and the choice between the review and the sponsorship is the worker's, made with their adviser; the employer's nomination waits for the outcome.

How the Department reads it

A worker who moves from a refused student visa, a withdrawn protection claim, or a long bridging visa history to a sponsorship is examined for whether the sponsorship is genuine and whether the worker's history bears on the visa: the Department reads the earlier applications, any adverse findings in them, and any PIC 4020 matter, and a worker whose earlier application was refused for false information carries a three-year bar that the 482 cannot cross. A worker whose history is a refused student visa on a genuine student finding, with no false information, is granted the 482 in the ordinary case where the position and the worker's skills are genuine, and the Department does not hold the earlier refusal against the sponsorship as such. The consultation reads the history before the employer commits, which is the whole of the advice in this guide.

General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Sections 48 and 245AC of the Migration Act 1958, regulation 2.12 and the Bridging A, C and E visa provisions and Schedule 3 criteria of the Migration Regulations 1994, the subclass 482 criteria including the requirements for making a valid application, and condition 8607, as in force at the date above; the list of visas exempt from section 48 and the Department’s practice change and the current position governs. 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.