There are many temporary visa holders and Bridging Visa B holders that travelled overseas prior to the travel and re-entry restrictions came into force and these people are now stuck overseas and cannot return to Australia. Many have jobs and families to return to as well as ongoing studies.
The Australian Government has announced that from 21:00hrs on 20 March 2020 only Australian citizens, residents and immediate family members can travel to Australia. “Residents” has been interpreted to mean “permanent residents”.
The advice from the department so far, is that holders of BVB’s or any other visas which have or will expire will need to apply for another visa to re enter Australia. There is no consideration being given to extending these visas to enable people to return to Australia. Consequently, anyone caught up in this situation will need to lodge a Visitor visa but it remains to be seen how the department will handle such applications once the travel restrictions to Australia have been eased.
We are here to help anyone caught up in this unfortunate situation.