IELTSVegaAustralia student visa 2026: can you still bring your spouse?
New rules stop most students and graduates in Australia bringing a partner or children. Who is exempt, when it starts, and why IELTS is unaffected.
Short answer: for most people, soon, no. On 17 September 2026, Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced at the National Press Club in Canberra that family members will no longer be attached to most student visas or to graduate visas. In visa terms, your partner and dependent children are secondary applicants, and most new Student (subclass 500) and Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) applicants will lose the right to include them. A narrow set of exemptions survives.
One thing to be clear about before you panic or cancel anything: this is an announcement, not yet a rule. As of 24 September 2026, no commencement date has been published. Because the change is expected to be made by regulation rather than by an act of parliament, it can take effect quickly and without a vote, so treat it as coming rather than as hypothetical. Always confirm the current position on the Department of Home Affairs website before you lodge.
What was actually announced
The dependants change is one part of a wider migration package aimed at cutting net overseas migration from roughly 292,000 a year to 245,000 in 2026-27 and 225,000 in 2027-28. The measures that affect students and graduates:
- Most student visas will no longer permit secondary applicants, so a partner or child cannot be included in the application.
- The same restriction applies to the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa, so staying on after your degree will not be a route to bringing family over either.
- Changing your education provider or your course will require a new student visa application, rather than a variation of the one you hold.
- You will generally only be able to continue studying in Australia by moving up a qualification level, for example bachelor's to master's. Sideways moves between institutions and drops to a lower qualification are being blocked as "visa hopping".
- Visitor visas used for short English-language or vocational courses of three months or less will carry a "no further stay" condition.
- Second- and third-year Working Holiday visas move to a ballot with regional work requirements.
Who can still bring family
The exemptions announced are narrow, and they turn on the type of student you are and where you are from, not on the strength of your relationship.
| Student | Can bring partner / children? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| PhD and doctoral candidates | Yes | The only course named in the speech; Burke pointed to doctoral students being at a different stage of life |
| Master's by research | Not confirmed | Not named in the announcement. Student bodies are lobbying for all research degrees to be covered |
| Students from Pacific nations | Yes | Named as an exemption; the country list follows the regulation |
| Students from ASEAN nations | Yes | Named as an exemption |
| Overseas government-sponsored students | Reported yes | Reported in coverage of the package; not in the speech itself |
| Everyone else: undergraduate, coursework master's, VET, ELICOS | No | The great majority of student visa applicants |
| Temporary Graduate (485) holders | No, with the same exemptions | Graduate visas are included in the change |
When does it start?
No date has been given, and as of 24 September 2026 none has been published. The government has said the measures do not all commence at once, and that each takes effect as the relevant visa conditions, regulations or administrative arrangements are put in place. Dates circulating on social media, whether November, January or later, are guesses rather than announcements. What is known is the direction of travel, and that it applies to future grants rather than taking families away from people already here.
If your family is already in Australia
Nobody is being separated onshore. The minister said families already attached to a visa in Australia keep that arrangement until they leave the country or become eligible for a permanent visa. If your partner is already there on your student visa, this announcement does not remove them.
Can you still add your partner later?
Today, a student who has already been granted a visa can usually have a partner or child join later as a subsequent entrant, applying as a secondary applicant after the main visa is granted. That is the route many families were planning to use, and it is the part of the change people are least sure about.
Several migration advisers report that the new rules will also stop family members applying later in this way, including for students who already hold a visa and for students in the exempt groups. That detail was not in the minister's speech and has not been confirmed in a published regulation, so treat it as reported rather than settled. If you hold a student or graduate visa now and were planning to bring family later, get advice from a registered migration agent and watch the Home Affairs site, before the commencement date is announced rather than after.
If you are from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan or Sri Lanka
This change falls hardest on South Asia. More than 70% of the student dependant visas granted offshore last financial year, about 10,448 visas, went to applicants from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka. None of these countries is covered by the Pacific or ASEAN exemptions, so for most students from the region the PhD exemption is the only one available.
Bhutan stands out. Many Bhutanese students travel with a spouse, and Bhutan sits outside both exempt groups. If you are from any of these countries and your plan depended on bringing family, compare your options before you pay a deposit or lodge.
Can your partner work in Australia?
For families who already have a partner attached to a student visa, work rights under the current rules depend on the main student's course. If the student is enrolled in a master's degree or a doctorate, the family member can work unlimited hours. For other courses, the family member is limited to 48 hours a fortnight. In both cases the partner cannot start work until the student's course has begun. None of this changes for families already onshore, but new applicants outside the exemptions will not have a partner on the visa to begin with.
The scale of it
Australia granted 337,427 student visas in the last financial year. Of those, 45,991 went to secondary applicants — partners and children rather than students. That is the population this measure targets, and it is why the government describes student visa numbers themselves as unaffected: the students still come, the families do not. Applying has also become more expensive: the standard student visa application charge rose to AUD 2,500 on 1 July 2026.
How Australia now compares
If bringing your partner is the deciding factor, here is where the main destinations stand. Australia is following the UK, which restricted student dependants in 2024.
| Country | Can most students bring a partner? | Who still can | Can the partner work? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | No, once the change commences | PhD students, Pacific and ASEAN nationals | Yes, for families already onshore |
| United Kingdom | No, since January 2024 | Postgraduate research students and government-sponsored students | Yes, if eligible to come |
| Canada | Only on some courses | Partners of students on a master's of 16 months or longer, a doctorate, or selected professional programmes can get an open work permit | Yes, with that permit |
| New Zealand | Only on some courses | Partners of master's and doctoral students qualify for an open work visa; level 7 and 8 courses only if on the eligible lists | Yes, with that visa |
| United States | Yes | F-2 dependants of F-1 students | No |
What this does NOT change: your English requirement
No English test or IELTS score requirement was touched by the 17 September announcement. The English rules that apply to you are still the ones that came into force on 7 August 2025, and they are worth knowing precisely, because two of them catch people out.
| Route | IELTS position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Student visa (subclass 500) | Set by your education provider and the visa English requirement | Unchanged in September 2026 |
| Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) | 6.5 overall with no band below 5.5 | Raised from 6.0 on 7 August 2025 |
| Competent English | 6.0 in each of the four skills | Unchanged |
| Proficient English | 7.0 in each of the four skills | Unchanged |
| Superior English | 8.0 in each of the four skills | Unchanged |
Two English rules people still get wrong
- At-home and remote-proctored tests are not accepted for any Australian visa, from any provider. You must sit the test in person at a secure test centre, and booking IELTS Online by mistake is an expensive way to lose a month.
- IELTS One Skill Retake is accepted for the Temporary Graduate visa, so if you land 6.5 overall with a single 5.0 band, you can retake that one skill rather than the whole test.
- Results from a test sat on or before 6 August 2025 remain usable as evidence until 6 August 2028.
What to do now
- If you were planning to bring a partner, check whether any exemption applies to you before you change your plan. A PhD offer instead of a coursework master's is a materially different visa outcome now.
- If you are close to lodging, lodge on the rules as they stand and watch immi.homeaffairs.gov.au for the commencement date rather than following news coverage.
- If you already hold a visa and were planning to bring family as subsequent entrants, speak to a registered migration agent now rather than waiting for the regulation.
- If Australia was your choice because of family, compare Canada, New Zealand and the UK on their current rules using the table above, not on the version you read last year.
- Whatever you decide, the English requirement is the one part of this you fully control, and a higher band widens every option at once. Get the score first.
Get the band that keeps your options open
A 6.5 with nothing below 5.5 is now the floor for the Temporary Graduate route, and a 7.0 across the board opens skilled pathways in every destination country, not just Australia. On IELTSVega you can sit full timed mock tests, practise Writing and Speaking with instant AI band feedback against the official criteria, and see exactly which skill is holding your overall band down — which is the difference between retaking one skill and retaking the whole test.
Sources
Checked on 24 September 2026. The dependants change is announced, not yet in force, so confirm on the Department of Home Affairs website before you lodge.