How to Check Your Australian Visa Expiry Date, Work Rights and Conditions in VEVO

What can you check in VEVO?

Visa Entitlement Verification Online is the Department of Home Affairs service for checking the details and conditions attached to a person's current Australian visa. It is the main official tool for answering questions such as when your visa expires, whether you can work, whether you can study and what restrictions apply to your stay.

VEVO can display your current visa class and subclass, visa stream or education sector where relevant, visa grant date, visa status, visa grant number, entries allowed, expiry information, must enter before or must not arrive after dates, period of stay, work entitlements, workplace-rights information, study entitlements and visa conditions.

How to check your Australian visa in VEVO

Open the Department of Home Affairs VEVO service and choose the visa-holder option. You will need identifying information connected with your visa record. This normally includes details from the passport, ImmiCard or other accepted travel document linked to your record and an appropriate visa reference number.

Enter the details exactly as they are recorded with Home Affairs. A mismatch in your name, date of birth, passport number, nationality or reference details can prevent VEVO from finding the record.

What reference number do you need for VEVO?

VEVO requires a reference number to locate a visa holder's record. Depending on your circumstances, relevant visa information can be found in correspondence from the Department, including your visa grant information. New Zealand citizens who need a VEVO reference number can obtain the required reference details through the Department.

If you cannot obtain or identify the reference number needed to access VEVO, the Department directs requests for a VEVO reference number to its Global Service Centre rather than the VEVO technical enquiry form.

What documents can be used to identify you in VEVO?

Home Affairs uses travel-document information to match a person to their visa record. Accepted document types used by VEVO include passports and ImmiCards. For organisation checks, Home Affairs also recognises Convention Travel Documents, Documents for Travel to Australia and PLO56 Evidence Cards.

Your visa should be linked to your current passport or other relevant travel document. If you have obtained a new passport, update your passport details with the Department before trying to use the new passport details in VEVO.

How to understand the visa expiry date in VEVO

The meaning of the VEVO expiry field depends on the visa you hold and whether you are inside or outside Australia.

Temporary visa expiry date

For a temporary visa holder who is in Australia, the visa expiry date shown by VEVO is the date on which the period of stay ends. Home Affairs states that you must leave Australia before midnight, Canberra time, on that date unless you hold another visa that allows you to remain.

If a temporary visa holder is outside Australia, the expiry date is the date the visa ends.

Permanent resident expiry date

Australian permanent residence itself does not normally expire merely because the travel facility expires. For a permanent visa holder who is outside Australia, the expiry date shown by VEVO can refer to the end of the visa's travel facility rather than the end of permanent resident status.

If the travel facility expires while you are outside Australia, you generally need an appropriate Resident Return visa before you can return to Australia as a permanent resident.

What does must not arrive after mean?

The must not arrive after date is a travel-related deadline. You must enter Australia before that date if you want to use that visa for the relevant entry.

For many temporary visas, this date is generally associated with the end of the visa's travel validity. For permanent residents and Resident Return visa holders, it identifies when the travel facility ends. It should not automatically be interpreted as the date permanent residence ends.

What does period of stay mean?

The Period of stay field tells you how long the visa allows you to remain in Australia. This is especially important for visas where the authorised stay after each entry is shorter than the overall period during which you are permitted to travel to Australia.

Always read the period of stay together with the entries allowed, expiry and must not arrive after fields rather than assuming that one date alone determines how long you can remain.

How to check your Australian work rights in VEVO

Look for the Work entitlements section in the VEVO result. It shows whether your current visa allows you to work in Australia and whether work restrictions apply.

Work rights can be unlimited, limited by specific visa conditions, or unavailable. Some temporary visas contain conditions that restrict the type of work, employer, occupation, location, hours or period of employment. VEVO displays the conditions applying to the current visa so you should rely on your individual result rather than a general description of the visa subclass.

Why you should check the actual visa conditions

Visa subclasses can have conditions that apply automatically and conditions that apply only to particular visa holders. Home Affairs therefore recommends checking VEVO regularly, including your work rights.

For example, condition 8101 means the visa holder must not work in Australia, while other work conditions may permit employment subject to restrictions. The condition number and description displayed in your VEVO record determine what applies to you.

How to check study rights in VEVO

The Study entitlements section tells you whether your current visa allows you to undertake study and whether study restrictions apply. Education providers with authorised VEVO access can also verify study entitlements with the visa holder's permission.

Can VEVO show a bridging visa?

VEVO only displays the visa that is currently in effect. This means it may not display a Bridging visa if your substantive visa is still in effect and the Bridging visa has not yet become operative.

VEVO also does not show a pending visa application merely because you have applied for another visa. ImmiAccount is the appropriate service for checking the status of a visa application lodged online.

Can VEVO show an expired or previous visa?

No. VEVO is designed to show the current in-effect visa. It is not a historical visa-record service. If you need information relating to an old visa, a previous grant or your travel history, you may need a different Home Affairs service or official record.

How to prove your work rights to an employer

You can use your VEVO result as official evidence of your current visa and work entitlements. Employers can also register for VEVO organisation access and check a prospective or current employee's work rights after obtaining the visa holder's permission.

For employers with authorised work-entitlement access, VEVO can report whether the person has unlimited work rights, limited work rights together with applicable work conditions, or no work rights.

How to send your VEVO status to an employer, landlord or another organisation

VEVO is intended not only for checking your own visa but also for proving your current immigration status and conditions to other organisations. Home Affairs specifically recognises employers, education providers, financial institutions, real estate agents, telecommunications companies and government agencies as types of organisations that may use VEVO for legitimate purposes.

If an organisation does not have VEVO access, it can ask you to provide your visa status directly. Home Affairs specifically instructs foreign government representatives who cannot register for organisation VEVO access to ask the visa holder to email their status directly from VEVO.

Where the recipient has authorised organisation access, it can instead perform its own VEVO check with your permission and the required identity and travel-document details.

Can a landlord or real estate agent check VEVO?

Real estate agents and other commercial organisations with a legitimate business need may be approved for VEVO residence-status access. This allows an authorised organisation to verify whether a person is living permanently or temporarily in Australia. The organisation must have the visa holder's permission before conducting the check.

Does an employer need your permission to check VEVO?

Yes. The Department states that registered organisations can only check a visa holder's details with the visa holder's permission. The organisation also needs the relevant travel-document and identity details required for the VEVO query.

What if you changed your passport?

If your visa is linked to an old passport and you now have a new passport, tell the Department about the new passport details. Home Affairs states that passport details must be updated before you can use the new passport details in VEVO.

Do not assume that receiving a new passport automatically updates the visa record.

What if VEVO cannot find your visa?

First check that the information entered matches the Department's records, including your name, date of birth, document number, nationality where required and reference number. Also confirm that the visa you expect to see is currently in effect.

If you recently changed passports, make sure the new passport details have been notified to Home Affairs. If the problem continues and VEVO returns an error, use the Department's VEVO enquiry form.

Home Affairs states that it aims to respond to VEVO enquiry-form requests within 5 working days and asks users not to submit repeat requests during that period.

What if you migrated to Australia before 1990?

Some long-term residents who migrated to Australia before 1990 and have never travelled outside Australia may not have an electronic visa record. In that situation, the Department advises requesting an electronic record of permanent residence. Once the record exists, VEVO can be used to prove permanent visa status.

Is VEVO the same as ImmiAccount?

No. VEVO is used to check the visa that is currently in effect and its conditions. ImmiAccount is used for functions such as lodging and managing visa applications and checking the status of online applications.

If you have applied for another visa but it has not yet been granted, VEVO will not display that application as your visa status.

Can an employer cancel your Australian visa?

No. An employer cannot cancel an Australian visa. Visa cancellation is a decision that can only be made by the Australian Government under immigration law. An employer can check work entitlements through VEVO but does not control the legal status of the visa.