Australia Tightens Student Visa Switching Rules for Current Visa Holders

Australia changed where current holders can lodge a further student visa application on October 2, 2026, generally requiring them to apply from outside the country.

The rule also reaches other temporary visa holders seeking study and dependants who want to become primary students. Those dependants have no onshore exception, and applicants required to lodge offshore must remain outside Australia until grant.

The change does not cancel an existing visa. But an application lodged in Australia when offshore filing is required is invalid, not a refusal on its merits. If a current visa expires before the problem is identified, the applicant’s status may be affected.

Temporary visa holders face broader offshore limits

The restriction covers 17 specified temporary visa categories. Among them are Working Holiday, Skills in Demand, Training, Visitor and Temporary Graduate visa holders. The change applies to applications for the subclass 500 program.

The onshore restriction also covers Student Guardian applications. Current holders can still apply in Australia for another subclass 590 visa.

Primary applicants who already hold a student visa generally must lodge offshore for another one. That rule applies whether they held their current visa as the main student or as a family member. A dependant who now wants to study as the primary applicant must apply offshore, with no exception to that location rule.

A limited set of students can still lodge onshore

A current primary student may qualify for an onshore application in specified circumstances. The main routes include:

• Finishing a course: The student has begun, but not completed, the principal course with the same provider and expects to finish within 12 months of the confirmation-of-enrolment end date.
• Progressing to a higher level: The student has completed the principal course and will take no more than one further course at a higher Australian Qualifications Framework level. If the completed course was higher education, the next one must also be higher education with a higher-education provider.
• Study or sponsorship categories: The applicant is undertaking doctoral or school studies, or is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or Defence.
• Provider default: The student could not finish a registered course because the provider defaulted, was enrolled on the default date, applies within 12 months, and has not already applied over that same default.

The former option to lodge onshore within 28 days after a student visa expired has been removed. The exceptions for primary students do not extend to dependants applying to become the primary student.

Family must qualify and apply with the student

Student visa applicants can include a partner or dependent children only in defined circumstances. The exceptions include doctoral students, DFAT- or Defence-sponsored students, recipients of fully funded foreign-government scholarships, and eligible students whose passports are from Pacific or ASEAN countries.

Some existing family members may also qualify. The rules cover certain relatives already in Australia who held, or had applied for, a visa as the same student’s family member before the changes. Separate provisions cover children born in Australia on or after the start date to a student who held or had applied for a visa on that date.

Every included family member must apply at the same time and place as the student. That requirement is separate from the ban on adding a partner or child after grant. There are no exceptions to that ban.

Earlier applications and current visas remain protected

The changes apply to applications lodged on or after October 2, 2026. Applications lodged before that date, including those with family members, continue under the rules that applied when they were filed. Existing visas remain in force.

Provider-transfer details are still being developed

A separate transition measure requires non-school students to complete 12 months in their principal course before changing providers through June 30, 2027. School students retain the existing six-month restriction for their first registered school course.

A new Transfer stream is intended for students changing providers. A July 1, 2027 start is anticipated, but the government says the stream’s details are still being developed. The planned rules would require students to receive the new visa before commencing with the new provider, keep the existing visa end date, and permit transfers sideways or upward through AQF levels, not downward or from higher education to VET.

Before lodging or booking travel, check the current requirements with Study Australia’s student visa update, including course, family and location eligibility. A registered migration agent can advise on individual circumstances.