A surge in bridging visas over the past three years, driven by more student and family visa applications, has created a large backlog and new migration-management challenges.

Critics say bridging visas reflect policy and administration flaws, arguing that tighter appeal pathways and faster visa decisions would help reduce the backlog.

Home Affairs is pursuing a plan to better manage migrant numbers, but its release was delayed amid cabinet concerns about the plan’s robustness.

Bridging visas reveal the system’s bottleneck, with longer stays and work rights for applicants while waiting decisions, complicating efforts to cut net overseas migration.

About one in four bridging visa holders had applied for a student visa, with the share of bridging visas held by prospective students rising from about 15,000 in late 2022 to over 107,000 by late 2025.

A major driver of the backlog is higher student visa refusals based on subjective criteria, fueling more appeals in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which now faces lengthy processing times.

Experts warn a mismatch between a large pool of temporary visa holders seeking permanency and limited permanent visa places fuels the bridging visa backlog, reflecting both policy design and administrative inefficiencies.

Family visa backlogs are significant, with bridging visas for parents and partner visas more than doubling from 2022 to 2025, while annual permanent visa places remain limited and contribute to queues.

The rise in bridging visas followed a rise in temporary visas after borders reopened, making bridging visa holders the third-largest group among temporary visa holders after New Zealanders and students.

As of last month, over 412,000 people were on bridging visas, about 14% of Australia’s 2.9 million temporary visa holders, more than doubling since mid-2023.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal backlog has driven policy changes, including limits on in-person hearings for student visa appeals to speed processing.