Can You Bring a Partner or Children on an Australian Student Visa in 2026?
Updated: 26 October 2026
From 2 October 2026, most Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner or children. You can include family only if you meet an exemption, such as holding a passport from a listed Pacific Island or ASEAN country, studying a PhD, or receiving a foreign government scholarship that fully funds your studies. No one can add family after the visa is granted.
There is no separate "student dependent visa". Your partner and children are included in your Student visa (subclass 500) application, and the rules below decide whether that is allowed.
Key takeaways
Most Student visa applicants cannot include family from 2 October 2026.
Five exemptions apply: PhD, Defence or DFAT sponsorship, a fully funded foreign government scholarship, a listed Pacific Island or ASEAN passport, and families already on your Student visa.
Your course level does not create an exemption. A Master's by coursework gets none, and a Master's by research is excluded from the PhD exemption.
You must include family when you lodge. Family cannot apply later as subsequent entrants, and there are no exemptions to that rule.
Applications lodged before 2 October 2026 are assessed under the old rules, including applications that included family.
What counts as family on a Student visa?
For a Student visa, your family member is one of these:
your partner
your or your partner's dependent child who is unmarried and under 18
Home Affairs cannot grant a Student visa to a child who has turned 18 by the time the application is finalised. That child needs their own visa.
Every family member must meet the health and character requirements.
Which exemptions let you include a partner or children?
You can include family when you lodge your Student visa application if you meet one of the exemptions below. Home Affairs lists them on the Student visa Eligibility page.
Exemption 1, doctoral student. You are applying to study a Doctoral degree (PhD). Home Affairs states you cannot use this exemption for a Master's by research.
Exemption 2, Defence or DFAT sponsored student. You are sponsored by the Department of Defence or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Exemption 3, foreign government scholarship. Your scholarship must fully fund your studies in Australia. A partial scholarship does not meet this.
Exemption 4, Pacific Island or ASEAN national. You hold a passport from a country listed in the next section. Home Affairs lists no course-level condition for this exemption.
Exemption 5, other exemptions. Your family members are already on your current Student visa. This applies only if you held or applied for a Student visa before 2 October 2026.
If you do not meet an exemption, do not lodge an application for your family members. Home Affairs will not accept it. An invalid application can affect their visa status, and invalid decisions cannot be reviewed at the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Which Pacific Island and ASEAN passports qualify?
Home Affairs lists these countries under Exemption 4.
Pacific Island countries:
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
Kiribati
Nauru
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
ASEAN countries:
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos (listed as Lao Peoples Dem Republic)
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Vietnam
Timor-Leste sits in the ASEAN list for this exemption. The lower visa application charge groups Timor-Leste with the Pacific Island countries instead. Check the cost section of our Student visa guide before you budget.
Can you bring a partner if you study a Master's by coursework?
Only if you meet one of the exemptions above. Studying a Master's by coursework does not give you a family exemption.
The deciding factor is your passport or your funding, not your course. A student from a listed Pacific Island or ASEAN country can include a partner in a Master's by coursework application. A student from any other country cannot, unless they meet another exemption.
A Master's by research does not help either. Home Affairs excludes it from the PhD exemption.
Applying from outside Australia or inside Australia
Your family must apply at the same time and from the same location as you.
If you are outside Australia, you can include family members when you lodge your application, as long as you meet an exemption.
If you are inside Australia, you must first be allowed to lodge a Student visa in Australia. Then, for the foreign government scholarship and the Pacific Island or ASEAN exemptions, you can include family only if you also:
need up to 12 additional months to complete the main course on your current Student visa, or
have completed your main course and are moving to a course at a higher AQF level (if the completed course was higher education, the next course must also be higher education, delivered by a higher education provider), or
need to lodge a further Student visa because your education provider defaulted.
Family members who apply with you in Australia must hold a visa that allows an application in Australia. Home Affairs says holders of certain visas, as primary or secondary holders, cannot apply for a Student visa in Australia, and there are no exemptions. The list includes Visitor (600), Working Holiday (417), Work and Holiday (462), Skills in Demand or Temporary Skill Shortage (482) and Temporary Graduate (485). Our guide to the new Student visa rules explains who must apply offshore.
Three examples for a Master's by coursework, with a Pacific Island or ASEAN passport:
You finish a bachelor degree in Australia and move to a Master's. You are moving to a higher AQF level, so you can apply in Australia and include your partner.
You hold a Temporary Graduate (485) visa. You must apply from outside Australia. Your partner can be included at lodgement.
You finish a Master's and enrol in a second Master's. This is not a higher AQF level, so you apply from outside Australia and include your partner at lodgement.
What if your family is already on your Student visa?
Your family's current visas are not affected by the new rules. The question is whether you can include them in your next application.
Under Exemption 5, you can include family members who are currently on your Student visa if:
you need up to 12 additional months to complete your main course, or
you need to lodge a further Student visa because your education provider defaulted.
These two situations apply whether you are inside or outside Australia. If you are inside Australia, Home Affairs also allows it when you have completed your main course and are progressing to a course at a higher AQF level, or when your completed course had no AQF level and you are moving to one that does. You must have held or applied for a Student visa before 2 October 2026.
Children born during your Student visa are treated differently depending on where they are born:
A child born in Australia automatically holds the same visa as the parent.
A child born outside Australia while your application is being processed can be included before a decision is made, if you meet an exemption.
Can you add family after your Student visa is granted?
No. From 2 October 2026, your family members cannot apply as subsequent entrants after your Student visa is granted. Home Affairs states this applies in any circumstance, and there are no exemptions.
If you want your partner or children with you, they must be included in your application from the start. Plan this before you lodge.
What should you check before you lodge?
Check these five points before you pay for a Student visa application:
Whether you meet one of the five exemptions.
Whether your application must be lodged inside or outside Australia.
Whether your partner and children can apply from the same location at the same time.
Whether you can show the relationship, funds and documents for everyone on the application. Our Student visa guide covers the costs and financial capacity, and our visa fee calculator guide explains how the charges are built up.
Whether a later change, such as a further course, affects your family. Read our Student visa extension guide before you plan another application.
Still choosing your course? Our guide to choosing a course in Australia compares your options. If you are finishing a Temporary Graduate visa, read the Temporary Graduate visa (485) guide as well.
The rules depend on your passport, course and visa history, and a wrong application can be invalid. Book a consultation with RACC's registered migration agents before you lodge.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a separate student dependent visa in Australia?
No. Family members are included in the Student visa (subclass 500) application. From 2 October 2026, you can include them only if you meet an exemption.
Can I bring my partner if I study a Master's by coursework?
Only if you meet an exemption, such as holding a listed Pacific Island or ASEAN passport. The Master's by coursework itself does not qualify you, and you must include your partner when you lodge.
Does a Master's by research let me include my partner?
No. Home Affairs excludes a Master's by research from the PhD exemption. Only a Doctoral degree (PhD) qualifies under that exemption.
Can I add my partner after my Student visa is granted?
No. Family members cannot apply as subsequent entrants after the grant. Home Affairs states there are no exemptions to this rule.
Can my partner apply with me in Australia if they hold a Visitor or Working Holiday visa?
No. Holders of a visa on the Home Affairs list, as primary or secondary holders, cannot apply for a Student visa in Australia. The list includes Visitor (600) and Working Holiday (417). They must apply from outside Australia.
I already hold a Student visa. Can I include my partner in my next application?
Sometimes. If your partner is already on your Student visa, and you held or applied for a Student visa before 2 October 2026, you can include them when you need up to 12 more months to finish your main course or your provider defaulted. Inside Australia, you can also include them when you move to a higher AQF level.
Can my partner work in Australia?
Home Affairs states that students studying a Master's by research or a doctoral degree, and their families, have no work limit. For other courses, the work conditions on your family member's visa apply. Check their grant letter or VEVO for condition 8104.
Talk to a registered migration agent
Whether your partner or children can come with you depends on your passport, your course, where you lodge and your visa history. A mistake can make the application invalid, and family cannot be added after the grant.
Book a consultation with RACC's registered migration agents and have your situation checked before you lodge.
Registered Migration Agents (MARN 1572961, MARN 1172003)
This article is general information only and is not migration advice. It reflects the Home Affairs Student visa pages checked on 26 October 2026.
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