Most new applications cannot include family
Home Affairs says Student visa applicants generally cannot include a partner or dependent children in an application lodged from 2 October 2026 unless an exemption applies. Limited categories include PhD students, DFAT or Defence sponsored students, foreign government scholarship recipients and eligible students from Pacific and ASEAN countries. Read the exact criteria for your case; nationality alone is not a family visa decision.
No new subsequent entrants after the Student visa has been granted: Home Affairs says current Student visa holders cannot add family members after grant, with no exemptions. Declaring family in an earlier application does not create a later application route. Applications lodged before 2 October, including those with family, continue under the rules in force at lodgement.
Home Affairs: new family rules and exemptions · Applications lodged before 2 October and invalid applications
Can a partner apply later as a Student subsequent entrant?
Under the rules effective 2 October 2026, Home Affairs says a current Student 500 holder cannot add a partner or child to that visa after it has been granted; there is no exemption for a new subsequent entrant. Disclosing someone as family in the original application does not, by itself, keep a later Student subsequent-entrant route open. If a family application was lodged before 2 October, Home Affairs says it is assessed under the rules in force when lodged.
A partner may have a separate visa route to check for their own purpose and circumstances, but a relationship does not itself grant permission to travel or remain. If you are applying for a further Student visa with family already included on the current grant, read the narrow continuation rules below rather than treating this as a new subsequent entrant.
Home Affairs: adding family after grant · Earlier lodged applications · Check other family pathways →
Check the narrow continuation rules
If family members are already included on your current Student visa and you are eligible to apply for another Student visa in Australia, Home Affairs says you may be able to include them again. It also describes limited continuation and education provider default cases involving family already on a current Student visa. The primary applicant and everyone included must be in the same location when lodging. Check both the family exemption and whether the primary applicant can make a valid application in that location.
A current Student visa, an existing relationship or a declaration of family does not itself establish eligibility for a new application. If family cannot be included, Home Affairs warns that their part of an application will be invalid.
Official exceptions and same-location rule · Current onshore Student rules
Prepare each person's actual evidence
Use the current Student 500 page and your ImmiAccount prompts to check partner or dependent child eligibility, identity, relationship, age, health and character evidence. For a child, check birth or adoption records and consent or legal responsibility where relevant. Home Affairs may ask for Form 1229 or a statutory declaration, plus school enrolment evidence for a child aged five to under 18. Check current financial-capacity and Overseas Student Health Cover requirements for everyone included. These documents support an eligible application; they do not create an exemption.
Student 500 application requirements · Official Form 1229 · Student financial evidence → · OSHC planning →
Report changes and check the exact legal position
If a baby is born while an application is pending or after a visa is granted, use Home Affairs' newborn tool and notify it as directed. The new ban on adding family after grant makes timing especially important; do not assume a general newborn notification process creates a new Student subsequent-entrant route. For individual eligibility questions, use Home Affairs or a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner.
Newborn notification guide → · Official newborn tool · Who can give immigration assistance
Check the exemption before gathering documents
Save an editable checklist for the new rule, any exemption and the evidence relevant to an eligible application. Keep personal details on your own device.