Tomas is 31, from Florianópolis, and his 485 visa expired on 14 September 2026. He is still in his Dandenong rental and still telling himself he will sort it out. Today is day 22. Home Affairs draws a line at day 28, and the Minister has just rebuilt the compliance routine that sits behind that line. So Tomas has six days to pick a move, and the move he picks shapes every visa he applies for after this.
Short answer: If your visa has expired, Home Affairs says to leave or apply for a Bridging visa E immediately. The BVE has no fee, and a re-entry ban may apply once you overstay by more than 28 days. Since 17 September 2026 the Minister has also committed 100 more compliance officers and 250 more detention beds to find people who do neither.
The 28-day line Home Affairs draws
Start with the Department’s own page on expired visas. It is unlawful to stay in Australia without a valid visa. The consequences it lists are immigration detention and involuntary removal. However, the same page gives you the two exits: depart, or apply for a Bridging visa E straight away.
A re-entry ban may be applied if you overstay by more than 28 days. If you cannot arrange to leave inside that window, the Department tells you to apply for a BVE before you go. Moreover, it states plainly that how you leave Australia can affect your ability to get a visa later.
What the Minister restarted on 17 September
At the National Press Club, the Minister for Home Affairs described the routine Australia ran before 2015. An overstayer received a bridging visa and a direction to leave. Anyone who ignored it went into detention, and most arranged their own flight within a few weeks. He said that routine changed behaviour well beyond the people detained, because others left rather than wait their turn.
Mandatory visa cancellation began in 2015, and detention centres filled with people arriving from prison. He would not place an overstayer in that caseload, so Department resources shifted elsewhere. Consequently, his announcement was a return to the old routine, in his words no more and no less.
| Measure announced | Detail from the speech |
|---|---|
| Compliance officers | An additional 100 |
| Detention beds | An additional 250 |
| Facilities | Existing alternative places of detention near airports |
| Under review | The former quarantine facility in Melbourne, for repurposing |
| Start date | Not stated |
This is not, he said, the kind of operation seen on television in other countries. Our note on the whole 17 September overhaul covers the other measures.
Three positions, three different moves
Where you stand today decides the move.
You still hold the cheapest exit. The Department ties the possible re-entry ban to an overstay of more than 28 days, so a departure before that point avoids the trigger it describes. If you cannot leave in time, lodge the BVE before you travel.
Some people without a visa still have a substantive application open to them, such as a partner visa, or a review right they have not used. A BVE can be granted to someone applying for a substantive visa or seeking merits review. However, other rules can block an onshore lodgement after a refusal or cancellation. So check the bar before you pay a charge, because the partner visa charge alone is $11,710.
Then the BVE exists for one purpose: to keep you lawful while you arrange departure. The Department’s status resolution officers can meet with you, and the Return and Reintegration Assistance Program can help with travel documents and a flight. Leaving this way, on a visa and on a date you chose, is the routine the Minister described as the pre-2015 norm.
The Bridging visa E, line by line
Here is what the Department’s subclass 050 page says.
| Question | Home Affairs answer |
|---|---|
| Cost | No fee |
| Who can apply | An unlawful non-citizen, a current BVE holder or a Bridging visa D holder |
| Timing | Only after the substantive visa has ended, never in anticipation |
| Grounds | Arranging departure, applying for a substantive visa, seeking merits or judicial review, or seeking ministerial intervention |
| Where | In Australia at lodgement and at decision |
| Extension | None. A new BVE instead |
| Travel | Ends the moment you leave Australia |
When you lodge a valid substantive application in Australia, you may have applied for a BVE at the same time. The Department tells you if that happens. Nevertheless, check VEVO rather than assume.
Can I work on a Bridging visa E?
Your grant letter answers that, not the visa name. If it says no and you work anyway, the Department can cancel the BVE, detain you and remove you. A later BVE with work permission is possible in limited cases, such as financial hardship where you cannot meet reasonable living costs.
Tomas’s next ten days
- Day 22He checks VEVO, confirms the expiry date, and books an advice appointment.
- Day 23The advice is clear. He has no onshore pathway and no review right, so the goal becomes a lawful, documented departure.
- Day 24He lodges the BVE in ImmiAccount, with his passport pages and a flight booking.
- Day 27He flies out of Melbourne on the BVE with a copy of the grant letter. The visa ends as he departs.
The agent rule beside the compliance rule
The Minister paired the compliance announcement with a change to the migration agents’ Code of Conduct. An agent who encourages a claim with no merit, lodged to stretch out a stay, will face sanction and deregistration. He gave the example of a person at the end of their options who is steered into a protection claim because review takes years.
If someone offers to buy you years with a claim you do not believe in, that offer now carries risk for them and for you. A genuine review at the Administrative Review Tribunal costs $3,727 and runs to the deadline on your refusal letter. Our note on how the Tribunal works in 2026-27 explains that clock.
Run this before you do anything else
Every unticked box is a reason to get advice this week, because the options narrow with time. Our fees and process page explains what a first consultation covers.
Frequently asked questions
Does lodging a Bridging visa E stop the 28-day re-entry ban?
The Department’s page ties the possible ban to overstaying by more than 28 days, and tells you to apply for a BVE before you depart if you cannot leave inside that period. A BVE makes you lawful from grant. It does not erase days already spent unlawful, so lodge as early as you can.
I overstayed by two months. What happens if I come forward now?
The Minister described the pre-2015 routine as a bridging visa and a direction to leave, with detention only for those who did not go. The Department’s status resolution officers meet with unlawful non-citizens and BVE holders to plan departure. Nobody can promise an outcome, so get advice before the meeting.
Can I still lodge a partner visa after my visa expires?
Sometimes. A BVE can be granted to a person applying for a substantive visa, and a partner visa is one. However, bars on onshore applications can apply after a refusal or cancellation, and extra criteria apply to people who lodge without a visa. Check that before paying the $11,710 charge. Our partner visa page sets out the criteria.
What does a Bridging visa E cost, and can I extend it?
There is no fee. The visa runs to a date, a period or an event set in the grant letter. You cannot extend it. If your matter is not finished by then, you apply for a new BVE.
Can I travel on a Bridging visa E and come back?
No. A BVE ends the moment you leave Australia, and you cannot return on it. Re-entry needs a substantive visa, which is any visa that is not a bridging, criminal justice or enforcement visa.
Compliance measures from the Minister’s National Press Club speech, 17 September 2026. The 28-day rule and BVE details verified on the Home Affairs visa expired, Bridging visa E (subclass 050) and Status Resolution Service pages, 6 October 2026. Charges from Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026 and the Administrative Review Tribunal.
General information as at 6 October 2026. Tomas is a fictional example. Not legal advice.