Bringing Your Partner or Family to Australia on a Student Visa: The Real Rules

Since 2 October 2026, most international students can no longer include a partner or dependent children in a student visa application, and nobody can add family members after the visa is granted. Only certain groups are exempt (see below). If you do qualify for an exemption, two rules decide whether it works: you must declare your family when you lodge your visa application, and you must prove you can financially support them the whole time you’re in Australia. Here’s who qualifies, what you need to prove, and the costs – like school fees for dependent children – that catch families out.

Who can still include family on a student visa

If you are in an exempt group (see the quick facts above), your partner – spouse, de facto, or same-sex partner – can be included as a secondary applicant on your student visa application, along with your dependent child or children under 18, or your partner’s dependent children under 18. If you are not in an exempt group, family members generally cannot be included in a new or further student visa application, and the primary applicant and all included family members must be in the same location (all in Australia or all outside Australia) when the application is lodged. The age cut-off is stricter than it sounds: your child must be under 18 when a decision is made on your visa application, not just when you lodge it. If they turn 18 while your application is being processed, they’ll need to apply for their own visa separately rather than being included as your dependent.

You’ll need to provide evidence of these relationships – marriage certificates, birth certificates, or proof of a de facto relationship such as shared living arrangements. Your partner will also need to meet the visa requirements themselves, such as health and character, not just show that the relationship is real.

What you must prove

Three things, beyond the relationship evidence itself: health requirements (family members typically need medical examinations), character requirements (often police clearance certificates), and financial capacity – you must satisfy Home Affairs that you can support your family members for the duration of your stay, not just yourself.

The base financial capacity figure for the main student applicant is $29,710 per year in living costs (Home Affairs figure at the time of writing, so check the current amount), on top of tuition and travel – see our full breakdown of financial requirements for an Australian student visa. Bringing a partner and children adds further amounts on top of that base figure – a partner adds a set amount, and each dependent child adds a further amount, with a higher amount where the child is school-aged and schooling costs are factored in. Home Affairs updates these add-on figures periodically, so confirm the exact current amounts for your family size through your provider or a migration adviser rather than relying on a fixed number from any article, including this one.

If you qualify, declare them at lodgement

This is the rule most students miss, and it is now stricter than ever. Where an exemption lets you include family, you must declare them when you lodge your student visa application, even if none of them plan to travel to Australia with you right away. If you don’t declare them at that point, they cannot join you on a student visa later – there’s no way to add family members once your visa is granted, and Home Affairs states there are no exemptions to that rule.

If you qualify for an exemption and do declare them upfront but they’re not travelling immediately, they can apply later as a “subsequent entrant” through ImmiAccount, separate from your original application, but check the current Home Affairs rules for how this works under the 2 October 2026 changes. And if someone becomes your family member after you’ve lodged but before a final decision is made – for example, you marry or have a child during processing – you must inform Home Affairs of that change in circumstances.

The cost most students miss: school fees

Dependent children generally need to pay tuition fees to attend an Australian school, public or private – this is separate from, and in addition to, your own financial capacity requirement as the student visa holder. Fees vary by state and territory; several jurisdictions charge international-student rates for the dependents of visa holders, so check the relevant state or territory education department for the current rate where you plan to live. The typical starting age for school is around five, though it varies slightly by state. For children younger than that, look into childcare or kindergarten early – some education providers have childcare facilities on or near campus, and waiting lists are common, so it’s worth registering interest with more than one service before you arrive.

If you're under 18 yourself: the Student Guardian visa

This works the other direction if you’re the one under 18. A parent, custodian or relative aged 21 or older can accompany you to Australia to provide care and support, but they need their own Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) to do it – being your parent alone doesn’t grant automatic entry. They cannot work in Australia, must live with you, and must independently satisfy Home Affairs that they’re a genuine temporary entrant with enough money to support themselves and you. If you’re under 18, you also need to notify the Department of any change to your welfare arrangements through the Change in Situation portal.

Bottom line

Since 2 October 2026, bringing your partner or children on a student visa is only possible for exempt groups such as PhD students, DFAT or Defence sponsored students, foreign government scholarship holders and eligible Pacific or ASEAN students, so check the Home Affairs decision tree before you plan around it. If you are exempt, it hinges on two decisions you make at the very start: declaring everyone at lodgement, and being honest with yourself about whether you can actually afford the combined cost – your own living expenses, the add-on amounts for each family member, and school fees if you have children of school age. Get those right early, and the rest is paperwork. Get the declaration wrong, and the door closes, regardless of how strong your case would otherwise have been.

For the rest of the visa journey, see our guides on the full student visa timeline, choosing an education agent and what to do if your visa is about to expire.