Grant of BVA without application to certain parent visa applicants
1 July 2003 - Legislation change
Client summary
From 1 July 2003, immigration law has been amended to enable certain applicants for parent visas to be granted a Bridging A (Class WA) visa (BVA) without having to apply for it. The changes are detailed below.
Technical details
Additional information:The amendments provide for the grant of a BVA under regulation 2.21A ("Grant of Bridging A (Class WA) visas without application") to certain applicants for a Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) (Class DG) visa, Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (Class UU) visa or Aged Parent (Residence) (Class BP) visa.
An applicant for an Aged Parent (Residence) visa who wishes to apply for a Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) visa or a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa, known generally as contributory aged parent visas, must withdraw the Aged Parent visa application.
If the applicant wishes to take advantage of the concessions for lodgement of the contributory parent visa application free of the visa application charge, they must lodge the contributory parent visa application at the same time as they withdraw the Aged Parent (Residence) visa application. On withdrawal of the Aged Parent visa application, any bridging visa associated with that application will cease 28 days later.
Applicants who held a substantive visa when they applied for an Aged Parent visa would have been granted a Subclass 010 (Bridging A) visa (BVA). As the holder of a BVA, they could apply for and be granted a Subclass 020 (Bridging B) visa (BVB), which allows them to leave and re-enter Australia during the processing of their application.
Under current legislation, on withdrawal of the Aged Parent visa application, the applicant would only be eligible for a Subclass 030 (Bridging C) visa (BVC) when they make an application for the contributory parent visa. This is because they would not be the holder of a substantive visa at time of application for the contributory parent visa.
In the converse situation, that is when a person makes a valid application for a contributory aged parent visa, but then decides to withdraw that application and apply for an Aged Parent visa, a similar situation arises.
To avoid this, the amendments to Regulation 2.21A provide that applicants who:
- are in Australia;
- have an unfinalised Aged Parent visa or contributory aged parent visa application;
- hold a BVA or BVB associated with that application
- do not hold a substantive visa;
- have not previously been granted a BVA under regulation 2.21A in relation to the withdrawal of an Aged Parent visa or a contributory parent visa; and
- are applying for either an Aged Parent visa (having previously had an unfinalised contributory aged parent visa) or a contributory aged parent visa (having previously had an unfinalised Aged Parent visa);
can be granted a BVA without application.
In addition to the changes to Regulation 2.21A, amendments to Regulations 010.211 and 010.611will also be introduced:
- Regulation 010.211 amendments provide for the further grant of a BVA to a person who holds or has held a BVA previously granted under Regulation 2.21A in association with:
- an application for an Aged Parent or contributory aged parent application; or
- in association with judicial review proceedings relating to the refusal of that application.
- Regulation 010.611 amendments provide that the visa conditions to be imposed on a bridging visa granted under regulation 2.21A are the same as those attached to the BVA visa that was held immediately before the grant of the new bridging visa.
Transitional arrangements: These amendments will apply with respect to applications for the contributory aged parent and Aged Parent (Residence) visas lodged on or after 1 July 2003.
Forms: Nil
Instructions: The following instructions will be updated as soon as possible:
- PAM3; and
- MSI: Bridging A Visa.
Effect on delegations: Nil.
Effect on systems: Nil. Note that decision-makers will need to select BVA from the pick-list in ICSE.