Australia's Resident Return Visa: The 730-Day Rule

An Australian permanent visa only lets you travel for five years. Keeping the right to re-enter after that means a Resident Return visa, and the five-year one needs 730 days in Australia. Here is how the count works.

Last verified: September 2026

In short: a permanent visa comes with a travel facility that usually lasts five years. Once it expires you need a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) to return as a permanent resident. The five-year version goes to people present in Australia for at least 2 years, counted as 730 days, in the last 5 years as a permanent visa holder or Australian citizen. The days need not be continuous.

Threshold: 730 days (2 years), not necessarily continuous
Counting window: The 5 years immediately before you lodge
A day counts if: You were in Australia for any part of it
Applies to: Days held as a permanent visa holder or Australian citizen
If you fall short: Up to 12 months' travel facility on substantial ties
Legal basis: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 2, clause 155.212

The rule

Permanent residence in Australia is permanent while you are in the country. The right to return to it is not. Your permanent visa carries a travel facility, usually five years from the day it was granted, and that facility is what lets you fly in and out. When it expires the visa does not disappear, but arriving from overseas without a valid facility means being refused entry. The Resident Return visa is how permanent residents renew that right, and how long a facility you get depends on which criterion you meet:

Two years in the last five gets five years. If you were present in Australia for a total of at least 2 years in the last 5 years as a permanent visa holder or Australian citizen, you meet what the department calls the residence requirement, and the subclass 155 visa comes with a five-year travel facility.
Two years means 730 cumulative days. The department counts the 2-year period as 730 days spent in Australia, added up across the window. Nothing has to be continuous, and no single stay has to reach any particular length.
The window ends on your lodgement date. The five years are counted back from the day you lodge, not from the day the application is decided. Lodge on 1 January 2026 and the department counts your days between 1 January 2021 and 1 January 2026.
Less time means a shorter facility. Without the residence requirement, the route in is ties to Australia that are both substantial and of benefit to Australia, business, cultural, employment or personal. That caps the facility at 12 months.

How to count it

List every stay in Australia with its arrival and departure dates.
Count each day you were in Australia. Arrival and departure days both count, and a part-day counts as a full day, so arriving and leaving on one date is one day.
Include only days on which you held a permanent visa or were an Australian citizen.
Add up the days falling inside the five years that end on your lodgement date. A total of 730 or more meets the residence requirement.

Example. You plan to lodge on 1 March 2026, so the window runs from 1 March 2021. Your stays inside it are 1 April to 30 September 2022 (183 days), 1 January to 30 June 2024 (182 days), and 1 February to 31 December 2025 (334 days).

That is 699 days, 31 short. A further month in Australia inside the same window, say 1 to 31 January 2026, adds 31 days and brings the total to exactly 730.

Beyond the day count

The 730 days are one criterion among several, and the day count is the only part AtlasDays measures. The substantial-ties test, the character requirement, and any compelling and compassionate reasons for a long absence are assessed on evidence you supply, so you check those yourself; a subclass 157 visa covers a three-month facility in limited circumstances. Where the total is near the line, the department's guidance and, if it matters enough, professional advice are worth more than any general explainer.

The window is fixed to the day you apply, so it moves: time spent five years and a day ago has already dropped out. The same days also feed Australia's tax residency tests, which use a different window and threshold. See Australia's 183-day tax residency rule.

AtlasDays tracks Australia's 730-day residence requirement automatically

Log your trips once. The Australia Resident Return Visa tracker counts every day you spend in Australia across a rolling 60-month window ending today, privately on your iPhone, and shows how close you are to reaching 730 days.

Get AtlasDays

FAQ

How many days do you need in Australia for a five-year Resident Return visa?

730 days, that is 2 years in total, during the 5 years immediately before you lodge, held as a permanent visa holder or Australian citizen. The days do not need to be continuous.

What happens when the travel facility on your permanent visa expires?

The visa itself does not end, but your right to re-enter Australia does. To return as a permanent resident you need a Resident Return visa granted before you arrive, otherwise you will be refused entry.

Can you get a Resident Return visa with fewer than 730 days?

Yes, but with a shorter travel facility. If you do not meet the residence requirement you can apply on the basis of substantial ties to Australia that are of benefit to Australia, which gives a maximum of 12 months.

About this article: AtlasDays provides general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your circumstances, so never rely on it alone: check the linked official source or ask a qualified professional.