For HR, migration compliance should begin with verified work rights – not assumptions about an employee’s visa label, relationship or personal circumstances.

An employee tells HR they have applied for an Australian Partner Visa and are now “on a bridging visa”. What does that mean for their work rights?

For HR, the answer shouldn’t rest on the employee’s description of their status or personal circumstances. It should begin with a simpler question: what does VEVO say?

The position can be confusing after an onshore visa application. A person may have been granted a Bridging Visa while another visa remains in effect. Personal changes also don’t necessarily end work rights immediately.

Here are some key considerations for HR practitioners to keep in mind.

1. Check the work rights, not just the visa name

The Department of Home Affairs’ Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) allows visa holders and registered organisations to check current visa details and conditions. Employers must obtain the visa holder’s permission before checking.

Two employees who both say they are “on a bridging visa” may have different conditions. Some visas permit work; others restrict or prohibit it. Home Affairs directs employers to check work conditions through VEVO.

The practical HR question is therefore not simply, “What visa have you applied for?” It is: “What visa is currently in effect, and what work conditions apply to it?”

2. A Bridging Visa A may be granted before it becomes active

Under Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, a Bridging Visa A (BVA) connected with a substantive visa application can come into effect on grant or when the person’s substantive visa ceases.

An employee may therefore hold a BVA grant notice while an existing substantive visa still governs their stay and work conditions. HR should check VEVO rather than treating a future bridging visa as proof of current work rights.

“HR doesn’t need to become the employee’s migration adviser. However, where an employee relying on a bridging visa mentions overseas travel, it’s sensible to encourage them to obtain advice before departure.” – Madhab Kharel, Principal Lawyer, Emigrate Lawyers

3. Travel can change the position

Travel can also create immigration complications. Home Affairs states that only a Bridging Visa B permits a person to leave and re-enter Australia while awaiting a substantive visa decision.

Leaving the country while another type of bridging visa is in effect causes that visa to cease.

HR doesn’t need to become the employee’s migration adviser. However, where an employee relying on a bridging visa mentions overseas travel, it’s sensible to encourage them to obtain advice before departure, particularly where their return to work depends on being able to re-enter Australia.

4. Relationship breakdown does not automatically end work rights

This is especially important for Partner Visa applicants. If HR becomes aware that an employee has separated from the person sponsoring their application, it can be tempting to assume their visa – and therefore their work rights – has automatically ended.

That is not necessarily correct.

Home Affairs says a Partner Visa application may, in defined circumstances, continue after separation, including where the sponsor has died, family violence provisions apply, or the couple has a child and shares access and parental responsibility. The Department provides relationship cessation guidance for Partner Visa applicants.

An employer or sponsor also cannot personally cancel another person’s visa. As the Fair Work Ombudsman explains, visa grant, refusal and cancellation decisions are matters for the Department of Home Affairs.

For HR, the distinction is important: a change in an employee’s private circumstances is not the same thing as a verified change to their legal entitlement to work.

5. Ask for what HR needs – and no more

Migration compliance doesn’t generally require HR to investigate an employee’s marriage or ask for details of a separation. Questions about family violence, relationship history or other private matters may involve sensitive information that’s not necessary to establish current work rights.

There are also discrimination considerations. The Australian Human Rights Commission notes that the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 protects against discrimination on the basis of immigrant status in employment, while still recognising that a person must have valid work rights for the role.

Summary: Practical tips for HR

When it doubt, keep the following in mind:

• Verify the current visa using VEVO, with the employee’s permission, to identify the visa currently in effect.
• Read the conditions. Check whether work is permitted and whether any restrictions apply.
• Don’t infer status from personal events. Separation, sponsorship changes or the existence of a bridging visa grant notice do not, by themselves, establish today’s work rights.
• Refer when circumstances become complex. Travel, visa expiry, relationship cessation or unclear conditions are appropriate triggers for specialist migration advice.

When you’re unsure whether a bridging visa permits work, a focused review of bridging-visa work rights can prevent both unlawful employment and unnecessary disruption to an employee who is entitled to continue working.

Visa holders and migrant workers have the same fundamental workplace protections as other employees. HR practitioners don’t need to become migration experts; they need to know what to verify, what not to assume,and when specialist advice is required.

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• Article: HR’s guide to Australia’s updated skilled migration laws
• Resource: Department of Home Affairs – VEVO: check visa details and conditions
• Resource: Department of Home Affairs – Information for employers and labour hire organisations
• Resource: Department of Home Affairs – Travel while your visa is being processed
• Resource: Department of Home Affairs – About Partner Visas: relationship cessation information

Madhab Kharel is Principal Lawyer at Emigrate Lawyers, an Australian immigration law practice.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice.