Student Visa Changes October 2026

By Chang Min Park
Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law · Legal Practitioner Director of Park & Co Lawyers

An offer from an Australian college does not tell you whether you can lodge your next student visa in Australia. The student visa changes introduced on 2 October 2026 require a separate look at your current visa, study history and family circumstances.

There are three questions to answer: where can you apply, who can apply with you, and which rules apply to an existing application? A favourable answer to one does not settle the others.

Start with the application date

Home Affairs says applications lodged before 2 October 2026 continue to be assessed under the earlier rules, including applications that included family members. Paying a course deposit or starting an online form is different from lodging a valid visa application.

Keep the lodgement acknowledgement. If you withdraw and lodge again, you may move into the new rules. An older visa grant does not, by itself, preserve the earlier rules for a new application.

Can you apply while you are in Australia?

The new framework restricts further onshore student applications. Specified visa holders, including Working Holiday and Work and Holiday holders, visitors, Skills in Demand or former TSS holders and Temporary Graduate holders, must look at offshore application requirements.

Current primary student visa holders may have an exception based on matters such as doctoral study, provider default, completion of an existing course or progression to further study. Each exception has conditions. A new Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) alone does not establish one.

For example, course progression generally requires completion of the relevant earlier course and progression to a higher AQF level where an AQF level applies. Moving from a completed bachelor degree to an appropriate higher degree is a different question from enrolling in another course at the same level. Higher education restrictions also need attention.

Doctoral enrolment does not remove a separate restriction attached to the visa you currently hold. A person moving from a working holiday visa and a person already holding a primary student visa may face different application-location rules.

Can your partner or children be included?

Family eligibility now needs its own assessment. Exceptions described by Home Affairs include specified government-supported students, eligible passport groups, doctoral students and particular existing-family situations. Passport eligibility, sponsorship or funding arrangements and course type can therefore matter.

Existing secondary student visa holders in Australia may have transitional protection when applying with the same primary student, subject to the applicable conditions. Being physically in Australia is not the whole test. An independent visa held by the partner is not automatically equivalent to a secondary student visa.

Under the new arrangements, family applications must be combined with the primary application where required. The former general subsequent-entrant route is no longer available for new student-family applications. Families should plan the application together rather than assume a partner can apply later.

The published LIN 26/087 family-exemption provisions contain a cross-reference issue when read against the amending regulations. Home Affairs describes doctoral and fully foreign-government-funded study exceptions. Where an application depends on one of these exceptions, check the operative instruments and any correction as well as the Department’s guidance before lodging.

Offshore application means more than a short trip

If you must apply offshore, you may also need to be outside Australia when the visa is granted. An offshore student application does not give you an associated bridging visa. Any return to Australia, continued stay or work must be supported by a separate valid visa and its conditions.

Do not plan around an assumed grace period after visa expiry. The general student reapplication route following expiry has changed; narrowly defined tribunal-related provisions should not be mistaken for a general 28-day extension.

A useful checklist for families

Each person’s current visa, conditions, expiry date and location.
Earlier application dates and whether each visa was primary or secondary.
The original principal course, completion evidence, new CoE and AQF level.
Evidence of government funding, doctoral enrolment or provider default where relevant.
A plan for travel, work, school attendance and the period awaiting a decision.

Student Guardian subclass 590 is a separate visa pathway, with its own requirements. A child’s student application and a parent’s guardian application should not be treated as a workaround that gives the whole family unrestricted stay or work rights.

For help locating the original rules, read our guide to checking migration law changes. The practical decision is still whether those rules fit your family’s particular visa history.

Check your study and family plans before you commit

Tell Park & Co Lawyers your current visa, expiry date, location, course history and the visas held by each family member. We can assess the application location and family rules together, before you pay for a course or book travel.

Enquire about your student visa options

Prefer email? enquiry@parkcolawyers.com

Submitting an enquiry does not create a solicitor–client relationship. Representation and fees are agreed separately.

Sources and further reading

Sources checked on 11 October 2026. This article provides general information, not advice about an individual application. Check the law and official guidance applicable to your circumstances before acting.

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