What to Do If Your Australian Visa Is Expiring, Has Expired, or Your Situation Has Changed

The Department of Home Affairs website (immi.homeaffairs.gov.au) points you to two starting points depending on your problem: "Visa expiring or has expired" if your visa status is the issue, and "Your situation has changed" if your circumstances have changed. Both routes lead to the same practical tools — ImmiAccount and VEVO — which you use to check status, notify changes, or withdraw an application. One warning applies to everyone holding a permanent visa: a permanent visa alone does not let you re-enter Australia. You need a valid travel facility, so check it before you book travel.

If your visa is expiring or has expired

The site's "Visa expiring or has expired" section exists to show you "what your options are and what you need to do." The exact options depend on your visa subclass and your situation, so the site does not give one universal answer — it directs you to work out your position first.

What you can do on the site:

• Check your current visa status and conditions — including your visa expiry date and any conditions attached to it.
• Use VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) to confirm your visa details and conditions.
• Use ImmiAccount to apply for a new visa, notify the department of changes, check an application's status, or withdraw an application.

The site also has a dedicated page on visa conditions, which sets out what you can and cannot do on your visa. If your visa has expired, the conditions and options that apply to you will differ from someone whose visa is still valid — so confirm your own status before acting.

If your situation has changed

The "Your situation has changed" section covers the common life events that affect a visa or application. The examples the site lists are:

• You moved — a change of address.
• You had a baby — a new family member.
• You got a new passport — new travel document details.
• You need to change your plans — for example, changing your travel or settlement plans.

For each of these, the site tells you to find out what you need to do. In practice, most notifications and updates are handled through ImmiAccount, which the site describes as the place to "apply, notify us of changes, check status or withdraw an application."

Permanent residents: check your travel facility before you travel

This is the point the site flags most clearly, and it is easy to get wrong. A permanent visa does not, by itself, allow you to enter Australia. You need a valid travel facility attached to that visa. The site's own news item warns permanent residents: "Don't get stranded overseas: Permanent residents warned to check travel facility."

So before booking international travel, confirm that your travel facility is still valid. If it is not, you need to address that before you leave — not at the airport or while you are already overseas.

Where to do each task

The site also notes that you can customise the homepage by selecting your situation — for example, "I already have a visa," "New Zealand citizens," or "Permanent residence (PR)" — to surface the guidance relevant to you.

Practical sequence

1. Confirm your current status first. Use VEVO to check your visa expiry date, conditions, and — if you hold a permanent visa — your travel facility.
2. Identify which situation applies. Is the problem the visa itself (expiring or expired), or has something in your circumstances changed?
3. Act through the right channel. Notifications, new applications, status checks, and withdrawals go through ImmiAccount.
4. If you are a permanent resident planning to travel, verify your travel facility before you leave Australia.

If you are unsure which visa option fits your situation, the site's "Explore visa options" tool asks a few questions to identify visas that might be suitable for you and your family.