[paulhand]

Thanks for the link - however it does return me to my original question...which of the above would be the lawful residency date - when granted the eVisitor, the bridging visa or his TR/PR (granted same day).

I'm assuming it will be one of the first two (ultimately doesn't matter which for our purposes), but if the latter will cause a 6-9 month delay in his application.

As things stand, the first date.

 

[paulhand]

That's interesting, I would have bet on the BV date. Does stay under a visitor visa count?

"To meet the general residence requirement (s22) a person is required to have been lawfully present in Australia for a period of four years immediately prior to making their application, including the last 12 months as a permanent resident.

All periods of lawful residence in Australia, such as temporary visas, visitor visas, student visas, all classes of bridging visas etc., are taken into account when calculating the four year lawful residence period."