Subclass 115 Permanent Residency in 2026: Travel Rights, RRV and Citizenship

A Subclass 115 (Remaining Relative) visa makes you an Australian permanent resident with no end date on your stay, but the right to leave and re-enter runs for five years from the date the visa is granted. When that five-year travel validity ends, you are left with two ways to keep moving: apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (RRV) so you can re-enter as a permanent resident, or naturalise and travel on an Australian passport, because Australian citizens do not need a visa to enter Australia. This reflects the Australian Department of Home Affairs "Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115)" official page as of July 2026, and the comparison below is general information for planning rather than advice tailored to any one person's circumstances — the department's current published requirements and a qualified professional's view on your own case are what should govern the decision.

How long does the Subclass 115 travel validity actually last?

Five years from the date the visa is granted, and within that window you can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want. The five years are counted from the grant letter, not from your first flight, so someone who delays first entry still loses travel validity five years after grant. There is also a first entry date to respect: it is generally set 12 months from the date of grant, and you must enter Australia before the date specified in your grant letter.

Missing that date is not automatically fatal. You can still travel with an expired first entry arrival date if your visa remains valid, though the visa may still be cancelled before you arrive or at the border.

What runs out after five years — your status, or only your travel?

Only your travel. Subclass 115 is a permanent visa; it lets you stay in Australia indefinitely, and that permission carries no expiry. Work and study rights, enrolment in Medicare, the ability to sponsor relatives, free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if you are eligible, and the route to citizenship if you are eligible all belong to you as a permanent resident rather than to the travel window. An expired travel validity is a travel problem, not a residence problem: nothing changes while you remain in Australia, and everything changes the moment you want to fly out and come back.

One separate timing point is worth knowing in the same breath — newly arrived residents may have to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits, a waiting period administered by Services Australia.

Why do the travel clock and the citizenship clock start on different days?

They measure different things.

Travel validity runs five years from the date the visa is granted, and you can see the end date in VEVO.
Permanent residency for citizenship purposes begins either when you enter Australia on this visa, or — if you were previously present in Australia and held a permanent visa immediately before you last left — when the visa is granted.

Because Subclass 115 must be applied for and granted while you are outside Australia, the first limb is the one that applies to most holders: the citizenship clock starts at first entry, which can be months after the grant date that started your travel clock. Assume an applicant who uses most of the 12-month first entry window: the citizenship clock then starts later than the travel clock, so the two dates will not line up and both should be checked before deciding. That gap is precisely what turns the RRV-versus-citizenship question into a real decision rather than a formality.

RRV or citizenship: what does each path actually give you?

	Resident Return visa path	Citizenship path
What you apply for	A Resident Return visa, granted so you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident	Australian citizenship, then an Australian passport
How you travel afterwards	On your existing passport, travelling as a permanent resident under the RRV	On the Australian passport, which you use to leave and re-enter Australia
Your status on return	Permanent resident	Citizen; no visa is required to enter Australia
What to check before relying on it	Whether your travel validity has ended, using VEVO	The eligibility requirements and current processing times published for Australian citizenship
Suits you if	You expect long stretches outside Australia, or you are not yet in a position to meet citizenship requirements	You want travel that no longer depends on visa validity and you are ready to naturalise

Neither route is automatic; both need an application and a grant. The deeper difference is where the recurring work sits. The RRV keeps you inside the visa system, where each future travel facility has its own validity and its own renewal decision. Citizenship takes you out of that cycle entirely, but it substitutes one application process for another, and the department publishes its own eligibility requirements and processing times for citizenship — worth reading before you assume naturalisation will be complete by the time your five years expire.

How do you check where you stand today?

Before you book anything, establish the facts rather than the assumptions:

VEVO shows when your travel validity ends, along with your visa conditions and your work and study entitlements, and it is also the record you use to prove your visa and its conditions to others.
You need a valid passport or other travel document both to enter and to leave Australia.
There is no visa label to show anyone; the visa is digitally linked to your passport.
On arrival, everyone completes an Incoming Passenger Card, and holders of an ePassport may be able to clear the airport through SmartGate, which uses facial recognition. Departures SmartGate works the same way on the way out.
If you later need evidence of time spent in the country, international movement records can be requested through the department's Request for international movement records form.

What if year five is still far away?

For applicants still in the queue, the grant date matters more than it first appears, because that is the day your five-year travel clock starts. Other Family visas are in chronic excess demand: the number of places available each year is smaller than the demand, processing times can therefore be lengthy, and applications are subject to capping and queueing. The department's visa processing time guide shows times for recently decided applications, but it is a guide only and not specific to any individual application. Anything that slows your file — an incorrectly filled form, missing documents, information that takes longer to verify — pushes the grant date back, and with it the start of your travel validity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly expires after five years on a Subclass 115 visa?

The travel validity, not your permanent status. Subclass 115 lets you stay in Australia indefinitely; what ends five years after the grant is the ability to leave and re-enter as a permanent resident, after which you need either an RRV or an Australian passport as a citizen.

Do I need a Resident Return visa if I never leave Australia?

No. The RRV exists so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident after the initial travel validity has ended. If you stay in Australia, your permission to remain does not expire, so the question only arises when you want to travel.

If I become an Australian citizen, do I still need an RRV?

No. Australian citizens do not require a visa to enter Australia. You would apply for an Australian passport and use it to leave and re-enter, which removes any need for a future travel facility.

How can I find out the exact date my travel validity ends?

VEVO shows when your travel validity ends, together with your visa conditions and work and study entitlements. It is also the record used to prove your visa and its conditions to others, since no label is placed in your passport.

When does my permanent residency start for citizenship purposes?

It starts the day you enter Australia on the Subclass 115 visa, or — if you were previously present in Australia and held a permanent visa immediately before you last left — the day the visa is granted. That start point can differ from the grant date that begins your five-year travel validity.

Can I still travel after the first entry date in my grant letter has passed?

Yes, provided the visa itself is still valid: you can travel to Australia with an expired first entry arrival date. The risk is that the visa may still be cancelled before you arrive or at the border, so check your current status in VEVO before flying.

What does the Subclass 115 visa cost, and did anything change in 2026?

The department charges the visa in two instalments — the first when you apply and the second when asked — with an additional charge for each family member applying with you, and possible separate costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics; concessions apply in limited circumstances. The Visa Pricing Estimator gives an estimate but does not include the second instalment or those other costs. From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application charge applies to eligible citizens of specified Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste who lodge a valid application with a qualifying passport.