Resident Return

Only Australian citizens can enter and leave Australia freely. Non-citizens do not have an automatic right of entry to the Country. Visas have been designed for this purpose, where non-citizens are given permits to enter and stay in the country for a specified period of time. However, most permanent visas come with a travel validity, i.e., you can travel abroad and re-enter Australia on the allotted visa for a specified period of time only. If and would like to return to Australia, you are required to have a visa to re-enter the country.

Normally, most permanent residents are allotted a travel facility of up to five years from the date of the visa grant. On the expiry of this travel facility or if it is about to expire, one must obtain a resident return visa to be allowed to re-enter Australia.

In Australia, subclasses 155 and 157, more popular as the RRVs (Resident Return Visa) are re-entry visas allowing the visa holder to travel to another country and return to the Australian migration zone. The visa holder can leave and re-enter Australia as many times as they wish during the validity of their visa. The validity of an RRVs may range from 3 months up to 5 years. Former Permanent Residents whose previous Permanent Residency visa was cancelled are not eligible to apply for a Resident Return Visa. It should be noted that, if you remain in Australia beyond the validity period, your permanent residence will not expire, only your ability to depart and then re-enter Australia as a permanent resident is affected. Subclass 151 is also a popular visa category under the Resident Return program; this visa facilitates the returning back of former residents (to Australia) who have given up on their permanent residency. A former resident of Australia can apply for a Returning Resident visa or the subclass 151 visa if they intend to return back and settle in Australia.

One cannot include one’s family members in an RRV application. Each family member is required to make their own application. To be eligible to apply for an RRV, one must be a foreign national holding a valid passport and must be either:

• Holding an Australian permanent residence visa
• Be an Australian permanent resident formerly whose last permanent visa did not get cancelled.
• Be a former Australian citizen who has lost or renounced their citizenship. For instance, because you became a national of another country that did not allow dual citizenship.

An applicant becomes ineligible for this visa if their last permanent visa was cancelled.

Apart from the above criteria, the applicants are required to demonstrate a specified minimum stay in Australia as a permanent resident to obtain this visa. There are RRVs with travel facilities that can be granted, and each one is for a different duration.

Subclass 155 Five Year Resident Return Visa

Subclass 155 is commonly called an Australian Resident Return visa. This visa category is specifically designed for the holders of the permanent visa in the Country. As a permanent visa has five years of travel validity, it supports the permanent visa holder to travel to and from the Country for five years. However, beyond the initial five years, the permanent residence of the visa holder does not expire. The ability to travel to and from the Country is affected after completion of the initial five years. Hence, to facilitate travelling easement, a resident return subclass 155 visa is required.

To obtain an RRV with a five-year travel facility, the essential criteria is that one must have spent at least two years out of their last five years in Australia as the holder of a permanent visa.