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 Visa Expires While Waiting for Parent Visa 103 in 2026

Explains what happens to your lawful status if your visa expires while a Parent visa (subclass 103) application is queued in 2026.

If your current visa expires while your Parent visa (subclass 103) application is still in the queue, the 103 application does not keep you in Australia lawfully. The Australian Department of Home Affairs states on its Parent visa (Subclass 103) page that you are not entitled to a bridging visa associated with a subclass 103 application unless you applied under the Retirement visa pathway, and that you must be outside Australia while the application is processed unless you hold another valid visa.

This is general information about how the published rules fit together, not personalised advice about your situation. Where your own lawful status is at risk, the current official pages and a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person — the categories the Department lists as able to give immigration assistance — are the places to have those rules applied to your facts.

Does a subclass 103 application let you stay in Australia while it is queued?

No. Lodging the application does not pause the expiry date of the visa you are currently holding, and it does not carry a bridging visa of its own for most applicants. The Department's wording is direct: you are not entitled to a bridging visa associated with a subclass 103 visa application unless you are applying under the Retirement visa pathway.

That matters because the wait is not short. The same page states that demand for Parent visas is greater than the number of places available each year, that applications are subject to capping and queueing, and that they are processed in the order they are received. Assessment happens in two stages: an initial assessment of eligibility to either add the application to the queue or refuse it, then a final assessment as places become available. A queue run on those terms will usually outlast a temporary visa, so the 103 application cannot be treated as a substitute for one.

You can lodge the application from in or outside Australia, as long as you are not in immigration clearance. Being able to lodge from inside Australia is not the same as being able to remain here while it is decided.

What does the Department say to do before your current visa expires?

Its instruction is to hold a valid visa. The Department states that if you are in Australia and your current temporary visa is about to expire, you should make sure you stay lawful by holding a valid visa while the application is processed. It also states that you must be outside Australia while the application is processed unless you hold another valid visa, and it links to its own visa expiry guidance for people in that position.

So for a standard applicant there are only two published ways to remain in step with the rules: hold another valid visa, or be outside Australia. The same page repeats the point from another direction — do not arrange to move to Australia permanently until the Department tells you in writing that the visa has been granted.

What happens if your visa runs out before the decision?

Consider a hypothetical applicant who lodges a subclass 103 while in Australia on a temporary visa and simply stays on after it ends. On the published rules, nothing starts when that visa expires. No bridging visa is triggered, and the applicant is neither holding another valid visa nor outside Australia — the two positions the Department's page describes.

From there, the difficulty compounds. The same page requires you to be outside Australia when the decision on a standard application is made, so a person who has stayed on without a visa is not sitting in the position the criteria contemplate for a grant. What actually follows from being in Australia without a valid visa is governed by Australia's migration law generally rather than by the subclass 103 criteria, and it is not set out on the Parent visa 103 page — which is precisely why the timing matters. The steps that keep you lawful are steps you take while your current visa is still valid, not after it has gone.

The queue itself is not run on your visa status. The page lists what can slow an application down instead — an incorrectly completed form, missing documents or information that has to be requested, and information that takes a long time to verify — and separately states that it can only process your application if you pay the correct visa application charge, and will return your application if the correct amount has not been paid.

Does the Retirement visa pathway change the answer?

Yes, and it is the one exception the Department names. A retiree applicant is entitled to the bridging visa associated with the 103 application, and the Department states that this bridging visa starts when the applicant's current visa expires before a decision is made on the application.

	Standard applicant	Retirement visa pathway applicant
Bridging visa linked to the 103 application	Not entitled to one	Entitled; it starts when the current visa expires before a decision
Where you must be when you apply	In or outside Australia, not in immigration clearance	In Australia, not in immigration clearance
Where you can be when the decision is made	Must be outside Australia	In or outside Australia
Balance of family test, sponsor, Assurance of Support	Required	Not required
Family members	Partner and dependent children, subject to the published dependency rules	Partner, if they also hold a Retirement or Investor Retirement visa; children cannot be included

Retiree status changes several things at once, which is why it is worth checking which pathway an application was actually lodged under before assuming a bridging visa will appear.

Where do you have to be when the 103 is decided?

For a standard applicant, outside Australia. The Department states plainly that you must be outside Australia when it makes a decision on your application, while a retiree applicant may be in or outside Australia at that point. The grant then comes with its own deadline: you must enter Australia before the date specified in your grant letter.

Until that written grant arrives, the Department's position is that you should not arrange to stay permanently in Australia. The decision letter is also where the visa grant number, the start date and any visa conditions are set out, and the Department advises keeping a copy of it.

What options exist if your current visa is running out?

The Parent visa 103 page lists other parent visas for applicants who want a different route, and the timing of the change matters — these are moves best made while you still hold a valid visa:

Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) — a permanent visa that may be processed faster than a subclass 103, but costs more.
Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173), then subclass 143 — a two-step process that is faster than a subclass 103 and costs more than a subclass 103, and also costs more in total than applying directly for the 143, with the cost spread across the two visas over a longer period.
Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870) — a temporary visa allowing parents to visit their children in Australia for up to 3 or 5 years at a time, for a maximum total of 10 years.

Switching is not penalised: the Department states that if you switch to a Contributory Parent visa, the date you originally applied for the subclass 103 is taken into account for the new application, and switching will not disadvantage you. One applicant changing course does not affect another applicant's application.

The sequence does matter for the 870. The page states that you cannot apply for the subclass 103 if you have already applied for or hold a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (subclass 870) visa, so that interaction should be checked against the current official page before committing to it.

Two other things keep the 103 application itself on track while you wait: the second instalment must be paid when the Department sends the invoice (if it is not paid, the application will be refused), and changes to your phone number, email, address, passport, relationship status or family composition have to be notified. Missing an invoice or a decision letter is its own kind of problem when the decision requires you to be outside Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does lodging a Parent visa 103 application let me stay in Australia until it is decided?

No. A subclass 103 application does not come with a bridging visa unless you applied under the Retirement visa pathway, and the Department requires you to be outside Australia while it processes the application unless you hold another valid visa. Lodging from inside Australia is permitted, but it is not permission to remain.

What should I do before my current temporary visa expires?

The Department's instruction is to make sure you stay lawful by holding a valid visa while the application is processed. In practice that means either arranging another valid visa or being outside Australia by the time the current one ends, because nothing starts automatically for a standard applicant when it expires.

I applied as a retiree — does a bridging visa start automatically?

The Department states that for Retirement visa pathway applicants, the bridging visa associated with the 103 application starts when your current visa expires before a decision is made on the application. Retiree applicants also do not need to meet the balance of family test or have a sponsor or an Assurance of Support.

Do I have to be outside Australia when the 103 visa is granted?

For a standard applicant, yes — the Department states you must be outside Australia when it makes a decision on your application. A retiree applicant may be in or outside Australia at decision time, and everyone must enter Australia before the date specified in the grant letter.

Can I move to Australia and wait out the queue here?

No. The Department says not to arrange to move to Australia permanently until it lets you know in writing that the visa has been granted, and not to arrange to stay permanently until the visa is granted. Holding another valid visa is the only way the 103 page describes remaining in Australia during processing.

Will I lose the fee I paid if my plans change?

The Department lists the cost as starting from AUD 8,665 for a single applicant, paid in two instalments, with the second instalment invoiced before grant. It states that the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused, and that failing to pay the second instalment will itself result in refusal.

How long is the Parent visa 103 queue?

The Department does not give a fixed wait on the 103 page. It states that demand exceeds the places available each year, that applications are capped and queued and processed in the order received, and that queue release dates are published separately.