3. What is the difference between a TPV and a bridging visa?

Like TPVs, bridging visas are temporary visas. They allow people (including asylum seekers) to legally reside in the Australian community while they are applying for a longer term visa, appealing a decision relating to their visa, or making arrangements to leave Australia.

The key difference is that bridging visas are granted to asylum seekers before any decision is made about whether they should be granted protection in Australia. The purpose of granting a bridging visa to an asylum seeker is to allow them to remain in the community while their protection claims are being assessed.^[5]

TPVs, on the other hand, are granted to people after their protection claim has been assessed, when the person is found to be owed protection obligations.

^[5] For more information on asylum seekers on bridging visas, see the Commission’s Factsheet Tell Me About: Bridging Visas for Asylum Seekers, available at: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/tell-me-about-bridging-visas-asylum-seekers.