What must you tell the Department after a BVB is granted in 2026? Changes and corrections
Once a Bridging visa B (BVB) (Subclass 020) is granted, you are expected to keep your own record current: changes to your phone number, email, address or passport have to be reported, and so does a decision to withdraw your application. That list comes from the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Bridging visa B (Subclass 020) page, as of August 2026, and it applies to the period after the grant, not only to the application stage.
What counts as a "change" you have to report?
The Department's obligations section names four contact-and-identity items and one case-status item:
- a change to your phone number, email or address
- a change to your passport
- if you want to withdraw your application
The Department's own wording is that these are things you need to let it know about — it says "include," so treat the list as a minimum rather than a closed set. Its guidance on how to notify sits under its "change in situation" material, which is the route named on the official visa page.
One further item appears in the Department's "after you apply" checklist: the birth of a child. If your circumstances change in a way that touches your substantive visa application, that checklist is the broader version of the same duty.
Do you have to report a new passport after the BVB is granted?
Yes. A passport change is named explicitly, on the same footing as a change of address.
The reason it matters more than it looks: the Department digitally links your visa to your passport and does not put a label in it. There is nothing physical to move across, so the new passport has to be notified and matched to your existing visa record. Renewing a passport is routine, which is exactly why it is easy to treat as "my business only" — on a BVB it is a reportable change.
Is an address change treated differently from a phone or email change?
No. All four sit on the same line of the Department's list: phone number, email, address, passport. There is no hierarchy in the published wording, and no grace category for "only a temporary move."
Practically, these are the details the Department holds in order to reach you about a visa that is already granted. Letting any one of them go stale creates a gap between what the Department has on file and where you actually are — which is the problem the notification duty exists to prevent.
What if something you already told the Department was wrong?
Form 1023: notification of incorrect answers
The Department's instruction is to tell it as soon as you can if you made a mistake on your application, and to complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers. That form is the mechanism named on the official page for correcting an answer you have already given.
Timing is part of the instruction: "as soon as you can" is the standard, not "when it becomes relevant." A correction made early is a correction you control; one made after the Department notices the discrepancy is not.
Corrections are not the same as changing conditions
Notifying a change or correcting an answer does not let you renegotiate your visa conditions. The Department states that it is not possible to apply to change conditions on a BVB. If you want different conditions, you must apply for a Bridging visa A (BVA) instead. Where the issue is work — a BVB that does not permit work — the BVA route requires you to prove that you are in financial hardship.
What else are you still obliged to do while the change is being processed?
Reporting a change does not pause your obligations. While the BVB is in effect, you and anyone included in the application must:
- comply with all Australian laws
- comply with the conditions of your current visa
- comply with the conditions of your BVB when it comes into effect
Two timing points matter here. If you still hold a substantive visa when the BVB is granted, you continue to comply with that substantive visa's conditions; the BVB conditions apply once the substantive visa ceases. And the BVB comes into effect either when it is granted (where your substantive visa has already ceased, or where the BVB is more beneficial than your current bridging visa) or when your current substantive visa ceases.
Your conditions are set out in your grant letter and can also be checked in VEVO. If you are unsure which set of conditions you are currently living under, that is the first thing to confirm — before worrying about anything else on this list.
This article describes how the published rules read and is general information only; it is not advice tailored to your circumstances, and forms and procedures can be updated, so the current official wording should be treated as the authority before you act.
Does reporting a change affect your travel dates or how long the BVB lasts?
No. A notification updates your details; it is not a new visa. The travel period is set at grant — the Department tells you when it ends — and if that period has ended you must apply for, and be granted, another BVB before leaving Australia. If you are outside Australia when the specified travel period ends, the visa ceases and you cannot return on a ceased BVB.
Withdrawal is the one item that is both a notification duty and an end-date trigger: on a BVB granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ends 35 calendar days after you withdraw your substantive visa application or an application for review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Telling the Department you want to withdraw therefore does two things at once — it discharges the notification duty and starts a countdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to tell the Department if I move house while holding a BVB?
Yes. A change of address is named on the Department's list of things you must report, alongside phone number, email and passport. There is no exception in the published wording for temporary or short-term moves.
I renewed my passport after the BVB was granted — is that reportable?
Yes, a passport change is explicitly listed. Since the visa is digitally linked to your passport and no label is issued, the new passport has to be matched to your existing visa record through the Department's change-in-situation process.
How do I correct a wrong answer I gave on my BVB application?
Complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, and tell the Department as soon as you can. The form is the mechanism named on the official Bridging visa B page for notifying incorrect answers.
I want different conditions on my BVB — can I just notify a change?
No. The Department states it is not possible to apply to change conditions on a BVB; you must apply for a Bridging visa A instead. If the change you want is permission to work, the BVA process requires you to prove financial hardship.
Can I check my current conditions myself?
Yes. Your conditions are in your grant letter and can also be checked in VEVO. Checking there is worth doing whenever your circumstances shift, because the conditions that apply depend on whether your substantive visa is still in effect.
Does notifying the Department extend my BVB or its travel period?
No. A change notification updates your details; it does not extend the visa. If the specified travel period has ended, you must be granted a new BVB before you leave Australia, and a BVB that ceased while you were overseas cannot be used to return.