From 2 October 2026, the student visa dependent family rules in Australia changed. Most people applying for a Student visa (subclass 500) can no longer include a partner or dependent children, and no student can add family members after the visa is granted. Four exemptions remain, and families already here have some protection.
Status: in force from 2 October 2026 for Student visa applications lodged on or after that date. Applications lodged before 2 October are assessed under the old rules, according to the Department’s fact sheet. The matching change for Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visas is announced only: no instrument, no start date.
If you were planning to study here with your partner or children, or your family is already here with you, this is a hard change to read about. Here is exactly what the law now says, where the exemptions are, and what is still only an announcement.
Student visa dependent family rules from 2 October 2026
Until 1 October 2026, a student could include their partner and children in the application, and family members could also apply later, after the student’s visa was granted. Those later applications were called subsequent entrant applications.
The Migration Amendment (Student Visa Reform) Regulations 2026 replaced that with a closed list. A family member can now only apply for a Student visa as a secondary applicant if one of these applies:
- the student is a Defence student or a Foreign Affairs student, or “holds a passport from a Pacific-regional country” or one of the ASEAN countries listed in the Regulations
- the family member is in Australia and, on 2 October 2026, already held a Student visa as a secondary applicant of the same student, or had applied for one before then that is later granted
- the family member is a child born in Australia on or after 2 October 2026 to a student who held, or had applied for, a Student visa as the main student at that date
- the family member falls within a class set out in a separate instrument, which covers families of PhD students and foreign government scholarship holders, among others.
For Student visas, a family member means your partner, or your or your partner’s dependent child “who is unmarried and has not turned 18 years of age”, according to the Department.
The four exemptions, in the Department’s words
The fact sheet lists four groups who “may be able to include family members” when they apply. Students who are:
- “studying a PhD”
- “sponsored by DFAT or Defence”
- “receiving a foreign government scholarship”
- “an eligible student from a Pacific country or an ASEAN member country”.
DFAT is the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Department’s Subclass 500 page fills in the detail. The PhD exemption means a doctoral degree, and “You cannot apply under this exemption if you are applying to study a Master’s by Research course.” The scholarship exemption needs “a foreign government scholarship that fully funds your studies in Australia.” On that wording, a partial scholarship would not qualify.
The Department describes a further limit for scholarship holders and Pacific and ASEAN students who are already in Australia. They can include family in an onshore application only if they need up to 12 more months to finish their main course, are progressing to a course at a higher Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level, or need a new visa because their education provider defaulted. Applying from outside Australia, that limit does not apply.
The Pacific and ASEAN rule turns on the student’s passport
The Regulations do not test where the family members come from. They test the student. The exemption applies where the primary applicant “holds a passport from a Pacific-regional country or a country specified in subregulation (5A)”, and the explanatory statement confirms that the countries specified there are ASEAN member countries.
The Department lists the eligible countries as:
- Pacific: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
- ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
Timor-Leste is covered either way. The explanatory statement notes it “is not specified at subitem 1222(5A) but is a Pacific regional country” for this purpose. The government’s stated reason for the exemption is Australia’s “existing commitments to deepening engagement with countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia”.
No more subsequent entrants, and no exemptions
This is the part that catches the most families. The fact sheet says “Current Student visa holders can no longer add family members (subsequent entrants) after their Student visa has been granted. There are no exemptions to this rule.”
No exemptions means none. A PhD student or a Pacific or ASEAN student who comes ahead of their family cannot add them to that visa later. Assistant Minister Julian Hill’s release of 2 October 2026 puts it the same way: “the ability of any students to add ‘subsequent entrants’ has now been removed for all students.”
In practice, that covers:
- a partner who stays behind to finish a job or a lease, planning to follow
- a relationship or marriage that starts after the visa is granted
- a child born overseas after the visa is granted.
If a child is born overseas while the application is still being processed, the Department says the student “can include the child in the application before a decision is made, provided they meet an exemption category to include family members.”
The explanatory statement accepts this may separate families for a time, and notes that family members “are also not prevented from applying for their own separate visas to enter and stay in Australia, subject to meeting eligibility requirements.” Which visa, if any, fits depends entirely on the person. Our guide on how dependants are treated across other visa types gives the wider picture.
Same time, same place
Where family members can still be included, they now have to apply with the student, at the same time and from the same place. The fact sheet says “The primary applicant and all family members included in the application must be in the same location when the application is lodged.”
The location rule has a knock-on effect that families often miss. The explanatory statement says that “if one applicant is required to apply from outside Australia, all applicants must apply from outside Australia”. The Department adds that family members applying with you in Australia “must hold an eligible visa to apply”.
So if your partner is in Australia on one of the visas that now bars an onshore Student visa application, such as a visitor visa or a working holiday visa, the whole family’s application has to be lodged offshore. We list those visas, and the other 2 October changes, in our guide to the student visa changes in Australia.
Families already in Australia
The government said it would not split up families already here, and the fact sheet says “If you already have family members included in your current Student visa, and are applying in Australia, you may be able to include them in your next Student visa application.”
That protection is narrower than it sounds. It works where the student can make the next application onshore. The explanatory statement says these provisions “aim to ensure families already in Australia are not separated if the primary visa holder is eligible to apply for a further Student visa onshore.”
On the Department’s guidance, family members currently on your Student visa may be able to be included if:
- you need up to 12 more months to finish your main course, or your provider defaulted, whether you apply in or outside Australia
- you have finished your main course and are progressing to a higher AQF level, and you apply inside Australia.
For the progression route, the Department adds: “You must have held or applied for a Student visa before 2 October 2026.” The completion and provider default classes are set out in LIN 26/087, and they require that the family member already holds a Student visa granted as a member of the same student’s family unit.
Outside those routes and the four exemptions, there is generally no way to include them in your next Student visa application.
Children born here. A child born in Australia to a Student visa holder is generally taken to hold the same visa as the parent from birth, under section 78 of the Migration Act. The Department puts it simply: “The child automatically holds the same visa as their parent”. The Regulations also let that child be included in the parent’s next application lodged in Australia, where the parent held or had applied for a Student visa on 2 October 2026 and is eligible to apply onshore. Being born here does not, by itself, make the child an Australian citizen, which we explain in our post on whether a child born in Australia is an Australian citizen.
The 485 version: announced, not law
The government has said the same restriction will apply to graduate visas. In his National Press Club speech of 17 September 2026, Minister Tony Burke said “we will no longer be allowing the attaching of family members for international students or for graduate visas.” Assistant Minister Hill’s release of 2 October 2026 says “Similar restrictions will apply to Temporary Graduate visas” and that the changes “will not separate families already in Australia where family members hold Student or Temporary Graduate visas as secondary applicants.”
As at 2 October 2026 there is no instrument on the Federal Register of Legislation making that change, and no start date has been announced. The Student Visa Reform Regulations amend Student visa provisions only. It is not yet known whether the PhD, Pacific and ASEAN exemptions will carry across. Until a law is made, the current 485 rules continue to apply.
How many people this affects
In 2025-26, 45,991 Student visas were granted to secondary applicants, the partners and children of students, compared with 291,536 to primary applicants. That is about 13.6 per cent of all Student visa grants that year. We calculated these figures from the Department’s BP0015 Student visa granted report (data to 31 August 2026).
The explanatory statement to the Regulations notes that “The majority of Student visa applicants do not include partners or children as secondary applicants”. Even so, tens of thousands of family members have been granted Student visas every year since 2007-08, and for new applicants that pathway is now closed unless an exemption or a transitional rule fits.
Frequently asked questions
Can international students bring family to Australia?
Some can. From 2 October 2026, a new Student visa application may include a partner or dependent children only if the student is studying a PhD, is sponsored by DFAT or Defence, holds a foreign government scholarship that fully funds their studies, or is an eligible student from a Pacific or ASEAN country, or if the family member is already on the student’s visa and protected by the transitional rules.
Can my partner join me later on a student visa?
Not as a subsequent entrant. Since 2 October 2026, no Student visa holder can add family members after grant, and the Department says there are no exemptions. Your partner may be able to apply for a different visa in their own right, depending on their circumstances.
How much money do I need to show for a student visa with dependants?
As at 2 October 2026, the Department’s Subclass 500 page lists 12 month living costs of AUD10,394 for a partner and AUD4,449 for a child, in addition to AUD29,710 for the student, plus schooling costs of at least AUD13,502 a year for each school-age child. Family members in a combined application may also attract an additional applicant charge. Our guide to the financial capacity requirement explains how the evidence works.
How long does a student dependant visa take?
Family members can now only be included in the student’s own application, so the relevant figure is the one the Department publishes for Student visas. Check the Department’s global visa processing times page for the current figure.
What happens to my child born in Australia while I hold a student visa?
The child is generally taken to hold the same visa as you from birth. If you held or had applied for a Student visa on 2 October 2026, the child may also be able to be included in your next Student visa application lodged in Australia, where you are eligible to apply onshore.
Do the new rules apply to applications lodged before 2 October 2026?
No. The fact sheet says applications lodged before the new rules started, “including applications that included family members”, continue to be assessed under the rules in place when they were lodged.
A realistic next step
If your family is part of your study plans, the order of decisions now matters more than it used to. Whether an exemption fits, where each person is when the application goes in, and whether everyone is included from the start can decide whether your family can come at all. Our team advises on student visas, and you can book a consultation with our migration lawyers to work through your family’s position before anything is lodged.
About the author: Tina Nematian is the Principal Lawyer at One Planet Migration Law. She is an Australian Legal Practitioner and a Registered Migration Agent (MARN), and has guided clients through partner, skilled, employer-sponsored, student, and humanitarian visa applications across Australia.
This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa rules change frequently and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Speak with a registered migration lawyer or agent before making any application. Figures were current as of October 2026; always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before lodging.
