Bringing family on a Student visa (Subclass 500) to Australia: 2026 planning
Yes — a Student visa (Subclass 500) can cover your partner and your or your partner's unmarried dependent children who have not turned 18, and they can either be included in your application or join you later as subsequent entrants. The Australian Department of Home Affairs Student visa (subclass 500) official page also sets the limits that shape a family plan: you must declare family members even if they are not travelling with you, no Student visa can be granted to a child who has turned 18 at the time your visa is finalised, and each family member who applies adds a visa application charge. The figures and rules in this article follow that page as of August 2026. It is general information only, not personalised advice about your own circumstances, so the Department's current published requirements — and any professional advice you choose to obtain — should govern your decisions.
Who counts as a family member on a Subclass 500 application?
For Student visas, the official page defines a family member narrowly: your partner, or your or your partner's dependent child who is unmarried and has not turned 18. Parents, siblings, and adult children are not family members for this visa, regardless of who pays the bills.
The 18-year cut-off is measured at a specific moment. We cannot grant a Student visa to your child if they have turned 18 at the time your visa is finalised; instead they need to apply for their own visa. The Department's guidance also covers the run-up to that moment: if you have a child who is 18 or over, or a child who will turn 18 before your Student visa is granted, that child needs to apply for their own visa. For a family planning a multi-year course, this means a child who is 16 or 17 at lodgement is a planning risk, not a certainty.
Declaring is separate from travelling. You must declare your family members in your Student visa application even if they do not plan to travel with you to Australia. If you do not, they will not be eligible for a Student visa to join you later.
How much money do you have to show for a partner and children?
The Department asks you to declare living costs, course fees, schooling and travel as the minimum you need for the visa, and warns that actual living costs vary across Australia and may be much higher. The published 12-month components are:
| What the money must cover | Published 12-month amount |
|---|---|
| Living costs — student | AUD 29,710 |
| Living costs — partner coming with you | AUD 10,394 |
| Living costs — each child coming with you | AUD 4,449 |
| Schooling — each school-age child, per year | at least AUD 13,502 |
| Travel — applying from outside Australia (other regions) | AUD 2,000 |
| Travel — applying from East or Southern Africa | AUD 2,500 |
| Travel — applying from West Africa | AUD 3,000 |
| Travel — applying in Australia (AUD 1,500 if returning to Africa) | AUD 1,000 |
| Course fees | first 12 months of your course fees (or the total if the course is 12 months or less), less amounts already paid and evidenced |
Assume a student applying from outside Australia with a partner and one school-age child, and no amounts prepaid: AUD 29,710 + AUD 10,394 + AUD 4,449 + AUD 13,502 + AUD 2,000 (student) + AUD 2,000 (partner) + AUD 2,000 (child) comes to AUD 64,055, plus 12 months of course fees. That is a hypothetical illustration built only from the published figures — your own course fees, city and school will move the total.
For stays of less than 12 months, the Department's method is to divide the annual cost by 365 and multiply by the number of days you intend to stay. Combined applications work the same way: you include the primary applicant's costs and expenses, and for each family member also applying you add 12 months of living costs (or pro rata), any school fees, and travel expenses.
Instead of funds evidence, you can rely on annual income: AUD 87,856 for your parents or partner in the 12 months before you apply, rising to AUD 102,500 if you bring family members. Both parents' income can be combined, and the evidence must be official government documents such as tax assessments less than 12 months old — bank statements and employer letters are not accepted for this purpose.
Schooling costs do not have to be evidenced in two cases: PhD students who have enrolled their child in an Australian government school where fees have been waived, and students with an Australian Commonwealth Government scholarship (including Foreign Affairs and Defence sponsored students) who have done the same. You must still give evidence the child is enrolled.
What changes if your family applies later as subsequent entrants?
A later application is possible but carries its own evidence load. Family members can apply as subsequent entrants in ImmiAccount if you declared them when you lodged your application, or if they became your family member after you were granted the visa — and if a person became your family member after lodgement but before grant, you must have informed the Department in writing before the visa was granted.
All subsequent entrants must attach evidence of financial capacity with their visa application, and the document checklist is not relevant to them. If they do not give this evidence, the Department may refuse the application without asking for more information. They must show enough money to cover:
- the costs and expenses of the Student visa holder they are joining, including up to 12 months of course fees minus any amount already paid;
- 12 months of living costs for all secondary applicants, including school fees;
- travel costs for all applicants.
There is also a structural cost rule for siblings: where subsequent entrants are two or more children with no parent joining them, they must each make a separate Student visa application and each pay the base application charge to join their parent. A family that plans to send two children later should budget two separate charges rather than one.
Can your partner work while you study?
Work rights exist but are limited, and they start at the wrong end of the calendar for many budgets. Student visa holders and their family members cannot work in Australia before the student starts their course.
Once the course is in session, students and family members can work up to 48 hours a fortnight. The exceptions matter for family planning: if the student is studying a master's degree by research or a doctoral degree, they and their family members have no work limit; if the student is studying a master's degree by coursework or a master's degree (Extended), family members can also work more than 48 hours a fortnight while the student remains capped at 48 hours. When the course is not in session, the student can work unlimited hours but family members still have limited work rights. Conditions should be checked regularly through the visa grant letter or VEVO.
What does each family member add to the visa application charge?
The official page states that the visa costs from a base amount for the main applicant, with concessions in limited circumstances, and that there is also a charge for each family member who applies. Because the published base figure and any indexation are set out in the Department's pricing tool rather than on the visa page, the practical rule is to run your whole family through the Visa Pricing Estimator before you commit to a lodgement date; the estimator does not include health checks, police certificates or biometrics, which are separate.
Two concessions are worth checking before you pay. A lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens and eligible ASEAN citizens who lodge a valid application, and family members are also eligible for the lower cost — determined by the passport of the primary applicant, not the family member's own passport. A lower cost also applies to valid applications in the Independent ELICOS and Non-Awards Sector. Separately, some applicants pay no visa application charge at all, including family members of students enrolled in a postgraduate research course and family members supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Department of Defence.
What else must family members satisfy before the visa is granted?
Family members who apply for the visa must meet health and character requirements, and must be a genuine student dependent. Every applicant, including family members, must hold a valid passport to lodge the application. Health insurance is a family-wide obligation: Overseas Student Health Cover must cover everyone included in your application for the proposed duration of the visa, and if you do not provide it in the application form, the visa application will be refused.
For de facto partners, the evidence is specific: in addition to documents proving the relationship, you need evidence that the relationship has existed for at least 12 months before you applied, or evidence that the relationship is registered by a participating Australian state or territory. For each dependent child under 18, you provide birth certificates or the family book showing the names of both parents, plus adoption papers where applicable.
Where does the family's status go after the course ends?
A Subclass 500 is a temporary visa to study for up to 6 years, with the grant period depending on the course type and length; primary school children starting enrolment in years 1–4 will generally be granted a maximum of 3 years. It cannot be extended — to continue studying you must apply for a new Student visa.
Two transitions are documented on the visa page. If the Student visa will expire before graduation, you might be eligible for a Visitor visa (subclass 600), and you will need a letter from your education provider with the date of your graduation. If you hold or held a Student visa and completed specific qualifications in Australia in the last six months, you might be eligible for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485). Which route fits depends on the qualification and timing, not on family status, so the sequencing question for a family is usually whether dependants' visas run to the same date as the student's and what each person applies for next.
The 18-year rule again sets a hard boundary: a child who has turned 18 at finalisation cannot be granted a Student visa as your dependant and must apply for their own visa. For a family whose plan spans several years, that date should be mapped against the expected grant date at the outset.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my partner and children join me on a Student visa (Subclass 500)?
Your partner and your or your partner's unmarried dependent children who have not turned 18 can be included in your application or join you later as subsequent entrants. Family members must meet health and character requirements and be a genuine student dependent. Only those relationships count as family members for this visa.
Do I have to declare family members who are not coming to Australia?
Yes. You must declare family members in your Student visa application even if they do not plan to travel with you. If you do not, they will not be eligible for a Student visa to join you in Australia, and a later application would require a new Student visa including them together with an explanation of why they were omitted, unless they became your family member after your Student visa was granted and before the later application is made.
What happens if my child turns 18 before my Student visa is granted?
A Student visa cannot be granted to a child who has turned 18 at the time your visa is finalised, and the same applies to a child who will turn 18 before your visa is granted. That child needs to apply for their own visa rather than being included as your dependant.
How much money do I need to show for a partner and one school-age child?
On top of your own AUD 29,710 in 12-month living costs and 12 months of course fees, the published amounts are AUD 10,394 for a partner, AUD 4,449 for a child, and at least AUD 13,502 per year for schooling, plus travel costs. Alternatively, your parents' or partner's annual income can be used, at AUD 102,500 in the 12 months before you apply when family members are included.
Do family members who apply later need to show funds again?
Yes. All subsequent entrants must attach evidence of financial capacity with their application, and the document checklist does not apply to them. They must cover the student visa holder's costs including up to 12 months of course fees minus amounts paid, 12 months of living costs for all secondary applicants including school fees, and travel costs for all applicants.
Can my partner work in Australia on this visa?
Family members cannot work before the student starts their course, and while the course is in session they can generally work up to 48 hours a fortnight. Family members of master's by research or doctoral students have no work limit, and family members of students in a master's by coursework or master's (Extended) can also work more than 48 hours a fortnight.
Is there a separate charge for each family member?
Yes, there is a charge for each family member who applies for the visa, alongside the charge for the main applicant. Family members may also qualify for the lower cost available to eligible Pacific Island, Timor-Leste and ASEAN citizens based on the primary applicant's passport, and some categories — including family members of postgraduate research students — are not required to pay the charge.