The Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Regulations 2023 (the Amendment Regulations) amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to:
- make technical amendments to provisions enabling the Minister to grant a Bridging R (Class WR) visa without application; and
- make amendments consequential to those made by the Migration and Other Legislation Amendment (Bridging Visas, Serious Offenders and Other Matters) Act 2023 (Serious Offenders Act); and
- spell out the operation and application of certain visa conditions which must be applied to a Subclass 070 (Bridging (Removal Pending)) visa (BVR) in certain circumstances; and
- provide that certain conditions imposed on a BVR cease to be in effect 12 months after grant, including conditions relating to curfews and electronic monitoring.
Following the High Court’s judgment in NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs & Anor (S28/2023) (NZYQ) on 8 November 2023, the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Act 2023 inserted and amended a number of visa conditions in the Migration Regulations and commenced on 18 November 2023. The Amendment Regulations are complementary to these changes and reinforce the effective operation of the BVR framework.
The Amendment Regulations amend provisions which enable the Minister to grant a BVR visa without application to an individual, including in circumstances where the non-citizen otherwise indicates they may not comply with the conditions of their BVR. In circumstances where those non-citizens may pose a risk to vulnerable people in the community, this amendment substantially enhances the protection of the community by ensuring that those non-citizens who are released from immigration detention as a consequence of the High Court’s decision in NZYQ are subject to appropriate and enforceable visa conditions. In some circumstances, a breach of a visa condition may constitute a criminal offence.
Source: Migration-Amendment-Bridging-Visa-Conditions-Regulations-2023.pdf and
Migration-Amendment-Bridging-Visa-Conditions-Regulations-2023-Explanatory-Statement.pdf