Major Student Visa changes from 2 October 2026: what you need to know

Major changes to Australia's Student visa rules took effect on 2 October 2026. It is now much harder to apply for a further Student visa while in Australia, to include family members, and to change education provider. The visa changes apply to applications made on or after 2 October 2026. Earlier applications are not affected.

Further Student visas must generally be applied for offshore

If you hold a Student visa (subclass 500) and want another one, you will now generally need to apply from outside Australia and be outside Australia when it is granted. This includes people holding a Student visa as a family member who want to become students in their own right.

Some primary Student visa holders can still apply in Australia:

• Defence students, Foreign Affairs students and school students

• Doctoral students

• Students whose provider has defaulted, if they apply within 12 months

• Students who need more time to finish the main course their visa was granted for, but not those who have changed provider

• Students who have completed their course and are moving to a higher-level course, generally a higher AQF level

Each exemption has detailed conditions.

Family members

Partners and children can now only be included in limited situations, including where the student:

• is a Defence or Foreign Affairs student

• holds a passport from a Pacific or ASEAN country

• is fully funded by a foreign government

• is a doctoral student

• is affected by provider default or needs more time to complete their course, and the family members already hold Student visas linked to that student

Transitional arrangements also exist for some existing family visa holders and for children born in Australia after the changes began.

Family members must apply at the same time and place as the student. Joining later as a "subsequent entrant" is no longer possible. A family exemption also does not by itself allow an onshore application: if the student must apply offshore, so must the family.

Expired Student visas

The option to apply in Australia within 28 days of a Student visa expiring has been removed. A narrow pathway remains only where the Administrative Review Tribunal has overturned a visa cancellation after the visa period had ended.

Other visa holders

Holders of many other temporary visas cannot apply for a Student or Student Guardian (subclass 590) visa from within Australia. These include Visitor, ETA and eVisitor, Working Holiday and Work and Holiday, Temporary Graduate (485), Skills in Demand (482), Training (407) and Temporary Activity (408) visas, whether held as the main visa holder or a family member.

Changing education provider

Until 30 June 2027, students at non-school providers generally cannot transfer to another provider until they have completed 12 months of their principal course, up from six months. This applies to existing students too, so if you have completed between six and 12 months, you are now restricted again. Exceptions remain, including where your current provider agrees to release you, or where your provider or course loses its registration. The period returns to six months from 1 July 2027.

What this means for you

The Government says the aim is to protect the integrity of the Student visa program and stop back-to-back temporary visas. Planning ahead is now essential. If you intend to study further, change course or provider, or bring family, get advice well before your visa expires and before you enrol or pay fees. An application lodged in the wrong place is invalid and cannot be considered at all. If you can't apply for another Student visa, you may wish to look at alternative pathways, such as employer sponsored visas, skilled visas or partner visas.

If you need to find out how these changes affect you, you can book a consultation with us.