Eligibility

If you do not meet the requirements for a five year Resident Return visa, your application will be assessed against the criteria for a three month Resident Return visa.

Five year Resident Return visa

To be eligible for a five year Resident Return visa you must be one of the following:

• an Australian permanent resident
• a former Australian permanent resident whose last permanent visa was not cancelled
• a former Australian Citizen who lost or renounced their citizenship.

You must also meet one of the following eligibility requirements.

Length of visa	Criteria
Five year visa	You must have spent two of the last five years in Australia.
One year visa (for applicants in Australia)	You must provide evidence of substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties of benefit to Australia; and if you have been absent from Australia for more than five continuous years since the grant of your most recent permanent visa, you must provide evidence of compelling reasons for your absence over five years.
One year visa (for applicants outside Australia)	If your last departure from Australia was as a permanent resident or Australian citizen: you must provide evidence of substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties of benefit to Australia and if you have been absent for more than five continuous years since your last departure from Australia as an Australian permanent resident or Australian citizen, you must provide evidence of compelling reasons for your absence over five years. If your last departure from Australia was not as an Australian permanent resident or Australian citizen: you must provide evidence of substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties of benefit to Australia and you must have been an Australian citizen, or an Australian permanent resident, less than 10 years before the application and if you have been absent from Australia for a total period of more than five years since last departing as an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident you must provide evidence of compelling reasons for your absence.
Member of a family unit – maximum of 12 months or until expiry of the present visa holder	You are the immediate family member of a Resident Return visa holder.

Three month Resident Return visa

To meet the eligibility requirement for a three month Resident Return visa you must meet one of the following eligibility requirements.

Eligibility requirement	Criteria
Residence requirement	You must have spent at least one day in the last five years in Australia as a permanent resident or an Australian citizen and You must provide evidence of compelling and compassionate reasons for your departure.
Member of a family unit	You are the immediate family member of a Resident Return visa holder.

Note: If you have been outside Australia for more than three continuous months immediately before making the application, you must also have compelling and compassionate reasons for the absence.

You are not eligible to apply for this visa if your most recent permanent visa was one of the following Business Skills visa and it has been cancelled, or is subject to a notice of intention to cancel:

• Business Owner visa (subclasses 127 and 840)
• Senior Executive visa (subclasses 128 and 841)
• State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner visa (subclasses 129 and 842)
• State/Territory Sponsored Senior Executive visa (subclasses 130 and 843)
• Investment-Linked visa (subclasses 131 and 844)
• Business Talent visa (subclass 132).