Ana is 27, from Valparaíso, and rents a room in Belconnen. Her Working Holiday visa ended on 20 September 2026. She now holds a Bridging visa E with no work permission. This morning, from 10:15, a status resolution officer sits in Belconnen Library, and nobody needs an appointment. Her housemate says she should just walk in. So the decision is not whether the service exists. It is what Ana should settle before she sits across a table from someone who works for the Department.
Short answer: The Immigration Status Resolution Service meets Bridging visa E holders and people with no valid visa. Its officers explain your options, help you plan a departure and refer you to two support programs. They do not act for you, and nothing on the service’s pages offers a substantive visa. Get independent advice first, then use the service for what it does well.
Who the service will talk to, and who it will not
Home Affairs keeps this door narrow. Its Meet with us page offers an appointment to Bridging visa E holders and people with no valid visa. However, the same page warns that the team does not manage general visa enquiries or other visa types. Send one anyway and you will not receive a reply.
| Your position today | Can you use the service? |
|---|---|
| Bridging visa E holder | Yes. Request an appointment online, or attend a listed community visit |
| No valid visa at all | Yes. The same two routes |
| Bridging visa A, B or C holder | Not listed. The page names only the two groups above |
| Question about a pending visa application | No. The team says it will not reply to general visa enquiries |
The community visits are few and dated. As at 8 October 2026 the page lists one upcoming visit, at Belconnen Library in the ACT. It lists none in Victoria, New South Wales or any other state. Consequently, most people in Melbourne will use the online appointment request instead.
Four things the officer can do, and three they do not
The Department’s overview page lists exactly four things a status resolution officer can do. Read the list twice, because the gaps matter as much as the items.
First, the officer can explain your visa options. Second, they can tell you how a decision you make now affects your options later. Third, they can help you plan to leave Australia. Fourth, they can refer you to other services where necessary. In addition, the service gives information on how to avoid becoming unlawful again.
The officer does not act for you. They work for the Department, and the Department is the other party in every decision about your visa. Moreover, the only visa the service’s pages mention is the Bridging visa E. You apply for that yourself in ImmiAccount, for free. Finally, the officer will not take a question about any other visa type.
Before the meeting, know whether any substantive visa is open to you onshore. Know whether any review right still runs. Then decide what you want from the meeting: a departure plan, a referral, or information. Walk in with that decision made, not with a hope that the officer will make it for you.
Two referral programs, and they are not the same program
The service page names two programs. People often blur them together, but their eligibility rules point in different directions. One supports you while you resolve your status. The other helps you leave.
| Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) | Return and Reintegration Assistance Program (RRAP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Needs-based support while you are engaged with the Department to resolve your status | Help for eligible non-citizens to leave Australia voluntarily |
| Core eligibility | Unable to support yourself, able to show hardship, and engaged with the Department. The main group is bridging visa holders with a valid protection application and significant barriers | No right to remain in Australia and a decision to depart |
| Other routes in | Recently released from detention; a finally determined protection visa; or a BVE holder with exceptional circumstances, such as a significant health barrier or a life expectancy under 12 months | Also open to a BVE holder already on a departure pathway, which can in turn support an SRSS claim |
| What it gives | Financial help, accommodation help, health care including mental health, schooling for children, and case management | Confidential return counselling, help with travel documents or a passport, and a flight booking. After departure, help to find work, train, start a small business or find housing |
| Who runs intake | Life Without Barriers on 1800 414 232 nationally, and Settlement Services International on 1800 279 586 in NSW, ACT, Vic, Tas, Qld and NT, weekdays 9am to 5pm AEST | Homeward Return Program for return services, and IRARA for reintegration |
Two lines on those pages deserve a highlight. The SRSS page says the Government expects bridging visa holders to look after themselves. Most have work rights and Medicare. Meanwhile, the RRAP page says departure counselling is independent of all government processes. It does not affect any ongoing immigration matter. In other words, SRSS is hard to get. RRAP counselling does not close a door you still hold open.
What is free, and what the free help points toward
Everything the service offers costs nothing. The appointment is free, the community visits are free, and the Bridging visa E has no application fee. RRAP counselling is free as well. Nevertheless, notice the direction of all that free help. Every item on the list makes a lawful departure easier.
The paid options sit outside the service. A partner visa application, for example, carries a charge of $11,710. A review at the Administrative Review Tribunal costs $3,727 and runs to the deadline in your refusal letter. Those are the steps where a lawyer checks whether a pathway still exists before you spend anything. The Department’s officer will not run that check for you, and the service’s pages never claim they will.
Ana’s position shows the gap. Her BVE carries no work permission, so her savings run down while she waits. The service can refer her to RRAP, and RRAP can book the flight. Neither can tell her whether another visa was ever open to her.
Our bridging visas page explains how the BVE differs from the A, B and C. That difference decides whether you can use the service at all.
What about ministerial intervention?
The same section of the Department’s website covers ministerial intervention, including how requests are assessed and what happens afterwards. It is a last resort with its own rules, and a request is not a visa. Our note on when the Minister can step in, and when they will not walks through those rules.
Ana’s next ten days
Ana does not walk into the library this morning. Instead, she runs the week in this order.
- Day 1She checks VEVO for her BVE end date and conditions, then books an advice appointment.
- Day 2The advice is clear. No substantive visa is open to her onshore, and no review right runs, so her goal is a planned departure.
- Day 3She requests an appointment with the status resolution team through the Department’s online form, with three written questions.
- Day 7At the meeting she asks for an RRAP referral, confirms her BVE end date, and asks how a departure now affects a later visa.
- Day 10She has a counselling session booked with the RRAP provider and a flight window chosen, all before the BVE ends.
The order matters. Had Ana walked in on day 0, she would have heard the same four things from the officer. However, she would have heard them before knowing whether a pathway existed. She would then have made her first decision in the Department’s room, not her own. Our note on the 28-day line after a visa expires explains why the day count also shapes that decision.
Before you request the appointment
An unticked second box is the one to fix first. Our fees and process page sets out what a first consultation covers and what it costs.
Frequently asked questions
Can I attend a community visit without an appointment?
Yes. The Department’s Meet with us page says officers attend listed locations for face-to-face conversations. No appointment is needed. The visits are dated and few. As at 8 October 2026 the only listed visit is at Belconnen Library in the ACT. None is scheduled in Victoria.
Will talking to a status resolution officer lead to detention?
The Department’s pages describe the service as information, planning and referral, not as an enforcement step. Nobody can promise what happens in any particular case, and the Minister has added compliance resources since September 2026. So get advice before the meeting and walk in with a plan rather than a question.
I have work rights on my bridging visa. Can I still get SRSS support?
Probably not on that fact alone. The SRSS page says the Government expects bridging visa holders to look after themselves. Most have work rights and Medicare. Support is needs-based, for people who cannot support themselves, can show hardship and face significant barriers. Protection applicants are the main group.
Does RRAP departure counselling affect my visa application?
No. The Help to leave page says departure counselling is independent of all government processes. It does not affect any ongoing immigration matter with the Department. You can speak to a provider about leaving while a decision is still pending. The counselling itself does not close that application.
Can I ask the status resolution team about my pending partner visa?
No. The team says it does not manage general visa enquiries or other visa types. It will not reply to an enquiry about a matter it does not manage. Questions about a pending application go through ImmiAccount or your lawyer, not through this service.
Service scope, the four officer functions, community visit dates and the two referral programs verified on the Home Affairs Immigration Status Resolution Service, Meet with us, Status Resolution Support Services and Help to leave pages, 8 October 2026. Charges from Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026 and the Administrative Review Tribunal.
General information as at 8 October 2026. Ana is a fictional example. Not legal advice.