How Many Days Do I Have to Leave Australia After My Visa Is Refused on Bridging Visa A? (2026)
In most refusal cases the answer is 35 calendar days, not 28. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Bridging visa A (BVA) (Subclass 010) page, as of the August 2026 version of that page, a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016 ceases 35 calendar days after the refusal of your associated substantive visa application, or after a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) on that application. The 28-day figure applies to a different trigger: it runs after a judicial review body upholds the refusal. Whichever category you fall into, the exact date you must leave by is the cease date shown in VEVO.
So how many days do I actually have after a refusal?
It depends on two things: when your BVA was granted, and which outcome ended your case.
| BVA granted | Outcome you were notified of | How long the BVA continues |
|---|---|---|
| On or after 19 November 2016 | Refusal decision, or AAT decision on the associated substantive visa application | 35 calendar days |
| On or after 19 November 2016 | Determination that the substantive application or AAT review application is invalid | 35 calendar days |
| On or after 19 November 2016 | You withdraw the substantive application or the AAT review application | 35 calendar days |
| On or after 19 November 2016 | A judicial review body upholds the refusal, or you withdraw the judicial review application | 28 calendar days |
| Before 19 November 2016 | Refusal, invalid application, withdrawal, tribunal upholding the refusal, tribunal finding no jurisdiction, withdrawal of merits or judicial review, or a judicial review body upholding the refusal | 28 days |
The underlying rule sits in the Migration Regulations 1994, where the Bridging A provisions set the visa's cease period at, among other things, "35 days after the Minister makes the decision." The Department's page is the practical statement of that rule and the one to work from.
When does the countdown start?
It starts from the outcome itself — the refusal decision, the AAT decision, the withdrawal, or the invalidity determination — not from the day you happened to read the letter or open the email. The official page makes the link explicit: once you have been notified of an outcome, you can see exactly how long you can stay in Australia in VEVO.
That distinction matters in practice. Assume an applicant receives a refusal notice while travelling interstate and reads it a week later. The 35-day window does not restart; the applicant's lawful time on the BVA still ends on the cease date the Department has recorded.
The count is in calendar days, so weekends and public holidays are included.
What if it was the tribunal, not the Department, that refused me?
For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, an AAT decision on the associated substantive visa application sits in the same 35-calendar-day bucket as a Departmental refusal. So the result is the same number, just a different decision-maker.
For an older BVA granted before 19 November 2016, the trigger is phrased as the tribunal notifying you that it has upheld the refusal, and the period is 28 days. A tribunal telling you it has no jurisdiction to consider your review application is also a listed trigger for those older visas.
What if I'm applying for judicial review?
The figure changes. For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, the visa ceases 28 calendar days after a judicial review body upholds the decision to refuse your substantive visa application, and likewise 28 calendar days after you withdraw a related judicial review application. The 35-day period is tied to the refusal and review stages that come before judicial review, not to the end of it.
There is a separate problem to solve at this stage. If a merits review tribunal has upheld the refusal and you apply for judicial review, you need to apply for a bridging visa to maintain lawful status during the proceedings, and where you have applied for judicial review you can only apply for a bridging visa by webform. Note also that a new BVA allowing work is not available if your current BVA was granted because you applied for judicial review and that BVA prevents or restricts work.
What about withdrawing, or being told the application was invalid?
Both are treated as outcomes that start a countdown rather than ending the visa on the spot. For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, withdrawing your substantive visa application or your AAT review application gives you 35 calendar days, and a determination that the substantive application or the AAT review application is invalid also gives you 35 calendar days.
Withdrawing a judicial review application is the exception: that one carries 28 calendar days.
What ends a Bridging visa A immediately, with no countdown at all?
Four situations stop the visa on the spot:
- you leave Australia while the BVA is in effect
- you are granted the substantive visa you applied for
- you are granted another bridging visa (such as a BVB) in relation to the same substantive visa application
- the Department cancels either your BVA or the substantive visa you held when the BVA was granted
Departure is the one that catches people out. A BVA does not support return travel, and an in-effect BVA ceases the moment you leave the country.
Why VEVO is the date you should plan around
VEVO is where the Department records how long you can actually stay after an outcome, and it is also where you check the conditions attached to your BVA and prove your visa status to someone else. Two people with the same refusal letter can end up with different cease dates, because the date depends on when the decision was made and recorded, not on a period you calculate yourself.
Treat your own arithmetic as a sanity check and VEVO as the number you act on.
Can I extend the BVA to get more time?
No. The BVA cannot be extended to let you stay longer; if you want to remain in Australia you have to apply for a new visa. There is no provision on the official page for topping up the 35-day or 28-day window.
What if my family members hold a BVA too?
Family members who applied with you for the substantive visa may also hold a BVA, and each person's circumstances are assessed separately when a BVA is applied for. Practically, that means you should not assume everyone in the household shares one cease date — check VEVO for each person, including children.
What if my situation doesn't match any of these outcomes?
This article is general information about how the published rules work, not advice about your case, and migration law and Departmental practice change over time — so confirm the current position against the official page and, if your circumstances are unusual, get help from a qualified migration professional before you act on a date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it 35 days or 28 days after a refusal on a Bridging visa A?
For a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016, a refusal of the associated substantive visa application gives you 35 calendar days. The 28-day figure applies after a judicial review body upholds the refusal, or after you withdraw a judicial review application. For a BVA granted before 19 November 2016, the period after notification of a refusal is 28 days.
Does the 35 days start when the decision was made or when I received the letter?
The Department's page links the count to the outcome and to your being notified of it, and directs you to VEVO for the resulting date. In practice, the safest approach is to read the cease date in VEVO rather than counting forward from the day you read the letter, because a delay in reading the notice does not extend the visa.
Do weekends and public holidays count?
Yes. The period is expressed in calendar days on the official page, so weekends and public holidays are included and the window does not pause for them.
What happens if I'm still in Australia after my BVA ceases?
Once the BVA ceases you no longer hold a visa, and the official page states you cannot stay longer by extending the BVA — you would need to have applied for another visa to remain lawful. This is why the cease date in VEVO is worth checking the day you receive an outcome, not the week before it expires.
Can I leave Australia and come back on the BVA?
No. A BVA does not support return travel and an in-effect BVA ceases upon departure from Australia. If you need to travel and return while your substantive visa application is being processed, you need to have been granted a Bridging visa B (BVB) before you leave.
The AAT refused my case and I'm considering judicial review — how long do I have?
The AAT decision itself puts you in the 35-calendar-day window for a BVA granted on or after 19 November 2016. If you apply for judicial review and the judicial review body later upholds the refusal, the period after that decision is 28 calendar days. You also need to apply for a bridging visa to remain lawful during the judicial review proceedings, and where you have applied for judicial review that application can only be made by webform.
How much does a Bridging visa A cost?
The Department's page lists the cost as free. That applies to the visa itself and does not create any way to extend it — the BVA still cannot be extended to stay longer in Australia.