Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

What happens if my 785 Temporary Protection visa expires in 2026 and I become unlawful in Australia?

What becoming unlawful after a 785 visa expires means, departure obligations, and re-application limits, per Home Affairs.

If your Temporary Protection visa (subclass 785) expires in 2026 and you have not applied for a further visa, you become unlawful in Australia. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Temporary Protection visa (subclass 785) page, a person in that position must make arrangements to depart Australia and may be barred from re-applying for a Temporary Protection visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise visa (subclass 790). As at August 2026, this is the position set out on the official page. This article is general information only and is not advice about your individual situation; your own position should be confirmed against the official page and, if you need personal guidance, with a qualified professional.

What does "unlawful" mean once a 785 visa ends?

A Temporary Protection visa is a temporary visa that lasts 3 years from the date of grant. Once that period ends, the visa no longer gives you a right to remain in Australia.

The 3 years run from the grant date, not from the date you arrived or the date you were notified. If no further visa application was lodged while the visa was still in effect, there is nothing extending your lawful status.

How do I find out whether my visa has already expired?

Visa details and expiry dates are shown in VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online). Your visa conditions are also listed there.

Checking VEVO first matters because the answer to almost every other question depends on it. It tells you whether your visa is still in effect, what it ceases on, and what conditions apply.

What happens the moment I become unlawful?

Two consequences are set out on the official page:

You are unlawful and must make arrangements to depart Australia.
You may be barred from re-applying for a Temporary Protection visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise visa.

The official page directs people in this situation to the "My visa is about to expire or has expired" information, or to the Status Resolution Service on 1300 853 773. Interpreting assistance is available on 131 450.

Where a Temporary Protection visa application has been finally determined, Australia's protection obligations are not engaged and no other visa is held, there is no lawful right to stay. In that situation, if you do not depart voluntarily, steps will be taken to remove you from Australia.

Can I still apply for another TPV or SHEV after expiry?

The timing rule works against you once the visa has ended. If your TPV was granted on or after 14 February 2023, a subsequent TPV or SAFE Haven Enterprise visa application must be made before your current TPV expires, if you still need Australia's protection.

The Department recommends applying for a subsequent visa at least 3 months before the current TPV ceases. Making the application while you still hold the TPV is what keeps you lawful during the wait.

If your visa has already expired, the official page says you may be barred from re-applying. A bar is not the same as a guaranteed refusal, but it is a real restriction on a fresh application.

What if I applied before it expired but have no decision yet?

This is the one situation where expiry of the visa date does not immediately make you unlawful. If you made a valid application for a subsequent TPV or SHEV while you still held your TPV, the TPV remains in effect until a decision is made on the subsequent application.

While you wait:

Your work and study rights continue.
Your eligibility for Medicare and Centrelink continues, but you need to renew your Medicare card.

Am I eligible for the permanent Resolution of Status visa instead?

Possibly, depending on your arrival date. If you currently hold or formerly held a subclass 785 or subclass 790 visa and you arrived in Australia before 14 February 2023, you may be eligible to apply for a permanent Resolution of Status (subclass 851) visa instead of a subsequent TPV or SHEV.

The distinction is the arrival date. Arrivals on or after 14 February 2023 are directed to the subsequent TPV or SHEV pathway; earlier arrivals may have the permanent option.

What if my visa expires while I am overseas?

The consequences are sharper offshore. If you are overseas and your TPV expires, you will not be able to return to Australia or apply for another TPV or SHEV.

This sits alongside visa condition 8570 (Restricted travel), which means you cannot travel to your home country under any circumstances, and can only enter another country with compassionate or compelling reasons and prior written approval.

Are there other ways lawful status ends before the 3 years?

Yes. Two are worth knowing:

Withdrawing an application. If you hold a bridging visa and withdraw your TPV application before a decision, you may be prevented from applying for a TPV or SHEV, and your bridging visa expires 35 days after withdrawal.
Not providing biometrics. If you do not let the Department collect biometrics, your application is invalid, and any bridging visa granted when you applied ends 35 days after you are notified the application is invalid. You then become unlawful.

What about my family, and can I become a citizen?

While you hold a Temporary Protection visa, you cannot sponsor family members for a visa through the Australian Humanitarian or Family Migration Programs. You are also not eligible to apply for Australian citizenship while you hold that visa.

Members of your same family unit included in your application share the same visa outcome. If your visa ends and theirs ends with it, the same unlawful status applies to each of them.

What support is available while unlawful?

The Status Resolution Service is the Department's area that handles help to leave Australia. Its help-to-leave information covers departure arrangements for people with no lawful status.

The Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) program may provide financial or other assistance, but only in limited circumstances and generally where a valid application has been submitted. If your TPV application has been refused or cancelled and all appeal rights are exhausted, you can ask the Minister for Home Affairs to intervene; the Minister does not have to consider the request.

What should I do next, in order?

Work through these in sequence:

Check your visa expiry date and conditions in VEVO.
Check whether a subsequent TPV or SHEV application was lodged before that date.
Note your arrival date, before or on/after 14 February 2023.
Confirm whether you hold any other valid visa.
Make arrangements to depart Australia if none of the above applies.
Use the Department's help-to-leave page for departure arrangements.
Ask for an interpreter on 131 450 if you need one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a grace period after my 785 visa expires?

No grace period is described on the official page. Expiry with no further visa application means you are unlawful from that point, and you must make arrangements to depart Australia.

Will I definitely be refused if I apply for another TPV after expiry?

The official page says you may be barred from re-applying for a TPV or SHEV. It does not say a later application is automatically refused, so the bar is a restriction rather than a stated certainty.

Do I keep my Medicare and work rights after expiry?

Only through the pathway described on the official page. If you made a valid subsequent TPV or SHEV application while still holding your TPV, your work and study rights continue and Medicare and Centrelink eligibility continues, though you must renew your Medicare card.

I arrived in Australia in 2022 — does the permanent Resolution of Status visa apply to me?

It may. If you hold or formerly held a subclass 785 or 790 visa and arrived before 14 February 2023, the official page says you may be eligible for the permanent Resolution of Status (subclass 851) visa instead of a subsequent TPV or SHEV.

What happens if I simply stay in Australia and do nothing?

If your TPV application has been finally determined, Australia's protection obligations are not engaged and you hold no other visa, you have no lawful right to stay. The Department says it will take steps to remove you if you do not depart voluntarily.

Can I sponsor my spouse or child from here?

Not through the main programs. You cannot sponsor family members through the Australian Humanitarian or Family Migration Programs while you hold a Temporary Protection visa.