2026 Onshore Student Visa Rules and Subclass 500 Exceptions

From 2 October 2026, if you hold a Subclass 500 Student visa and want to apply for another one as the student, your application must be made from outside Australia — unless you are a Defence, Foreign Affairs or school student, or you fall within one of the specified exception classes. That is the single rule most readers come here to confirm.

This article sets out exactly who can still lodge a further Subclass 500 visa application onshore, the conditions attached to each exception, and the point that is easy to miss: meeting an exception lets you lodge in Australia, but it does not decide whether the visa is granted. It also keeps the 2 October 2026 rule separate from two earlier measures that are often confused with it.

LIN 26/087 is reported to be an amendment to a legislative instrument known as LIN 20/158, which specifies classes of persons for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa applications. The reported effect is that its amendments apply to a student visa application made on or after 2 October 2026.

An Explanatory Statement is the document that accompanies a legislative instrument and explains what it does and why. It is a guide to the instrument — it is not the operative rule. The binding rules sit in the Migration Regulations 1994 (Schedule 1 and Schedule 2) and in the legislative instruments made under them. So when you read a summary of “what LIN 26/087 says”, you are reading a description of an instrument, not the instrument's own words.

The Department of Home Affairs states that from 2 October 2026 there are new rules for Student visa (subclass 500) and Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) applications, changing who can apply for and be granted a visa while in Australia, and whether family members can be included. The amendments are reported to apply to a student visa application made on or after 2 October 2026.

Applicability turns on your lodgement date, not on when your course starts or when your current visa ends. If you lodge on or after 2 October 2026, the new rules apply to your application.

One caution on terminology: a legislative instrument being registered is not the same as it commencing. The commencement date governs when the rules bite. The Department communicates the 2 October 2026 date as the start of the new rules; confirm the current commencement position on the Department's Student visa page before you act on timing.

The general restriction is straightforward: if you hold a Subclass 500 Student visa and apply for another Student visa as the student, the application must be made from outside Australia. There are two sets of carve-outs. First, the rule does not catch Defence students, Foreign Affairs students or school students. Second, it does not catch applicants who fall within one of the exception classes.

This matters for a particular group the Department names expressly: people who currently hold a Student visa as a dependant and want to apply for a Student visa as the primary applicant are caught by the new rule unless an exemption applies. In other words, moving from being a secondary (dependant) applicant to being the primary student is treated as a fresh Student visa application and is subject to the same onshore restriction.

A doctoral student is within the specified classes that may apply onshore for a further Student visa. The Department's fact sheet frames this as being able to apply for another Student visa in Australia if you are applying to study for a PhD.

In the Migration Regulations, a doctoral degree sits within a postgraduate research course, defined as a course of study leading to the award of a masters degree (research) or a doctoral degree. If you are enrolling in, or continuing, a doctoral degree, you fall within this exception — which permits you to lodge onshore. It does not alter the visa criteria you must still satisfy.

A student affected by provider default is within the specified classes that may apply onshore. Provider default broadly refers to the situation where your education provider stops delivering your course — for example, where the course ceases or the provider can no longer offer it. The protections around provider default sit within Australia's framework for overseas students, administered under the ESOS arrangements.

What this exception does is let you lodge a further Student visa in Australia rather than travelling offshore. For the detail of what obligations fall on your provider when a course stops, and what support is available to affected students, see the Department of Education's regulatory information for overseas students: ESOS regulatory information.

You may be able to apply for another Student visa in Australia if you need up to 12 more months after your original course end date to complete your studies. Two conditions attach to this. You must be continuing to study with the same education provider; and if you hold a package of courses, the course you need more time to complete must be your main course.

Your principal or main course is the course of highest value within a package you are enrolled in — the one your study program is built around. The 12-month window is measured against the end date shown on your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

A student progressing to a higher-level course is within the specified classes that may apply onshore. The Department's fact sheet frames this as having completed your main course that has an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level and progressing to a course at a higher AQF level.

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is the national system that ranks qualifications by level — for example, a bachelor degree, a graduate diploma and a masters degree sit at different AQF levels. In the Student visa framework, a higher education course includes qualifications from a diploma through to a masters degree (coursework), while a postgraduate research course covers a masters by research or a doctoral degree.

Pulling the stated conditions together, two distinct situations are described in the official material:

• Completing your current course: you need up to 12 more months after your original course end date, with the same provider, and — for a package — the course needing more time must be your main course.
• Progressing upward: you have completed a main course at one AQF level and are moving to a course at a higher AQF level.

Confirm the exact AQF-progression wording against the Department's current Student visa guidance before relying on it, and check your new course's registration status on the CRICOS course search.

A family unit is the group of people (such as a partner or dependent children) who can be included in a visa application as members of the primary applicant's family. Under the secondary criteria for a Subclass 500 visa, a secondary applicant is a member of the family unit of a person (the primary person) who holds a Student visa, having satisfied the primary criteria for that visa.

The Department confirms that the 2026 changes affect whether family members can be included in a Student visa application, and reach people considering whether family can join later. Specified family-unit exceptions mirror the primary-applicant structure — for example, where the primary person is a doctoral student or is affected by provider default. Because the precise secondary-applicant class descriptions in LIN 26/087 should be read against the instrument itself rather than a summary, confirm the exact family-unit exceptions and any foreign-scholarship category with the Department of Home Affairs before you plan on them.

A secondary applicant's position is tied to the primary person. The secondary criteria require that the primary person holds a Student visa having satisfied the primary criteria. If the primary person's own application is refused, or they do not hold a qualifying Student visa, the foundation for a secondary applicant's grant is not in place — because the regulation requires that link to exist.

There is also the transition the Department flags directly: a person who currently holds a Student visa as a dependant and wants to apply as the primary applicant is caught by the new onshore rule unless an exemption applies. So a dependant who intends to become the student in their own right should not assume they can simply lodge onshore when their current visa ends — that is a fresh primary application subject to the restriction. If your plans depend on a change in who the primary applicant is, confirm your position with the Department of Home Affairs before your current visa expires.

The Student Visa Reform package has been described as repealing certain older provisions as part of tidying up the Student visa framework. Do not assume all fee exemptions have ended, and do not assume any particular exemption still applies to you. Check the current visa application charge for a Subclass 500 application, and any charge exemption that might apply to your situation, with the Department of Home Affairs before you budget.

This is the point that costs people the most if they misread it. An onshore exception decides only where you can lodge. It does not satisfy the Subclass 500 criteria that must all be met when a decision is made. The Department states the position plainly: you can still apply for a Student visa if you meet the visa requirements.

Those requirements, which apply at the time of decision, include that you are enrolled in a course of study; that you are a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student, having regard to your circumstances and immigration history; that sufficient funds will be available to meet your costs and those of your family unit in Australia; that you hold adequate health insurance arrangements; English language proficiency where required; and the relevant public interest and special return criteria. Falling within an exception does not loosen any of these — it simply lets the application be made in Australia.

Three separate measures get blurred together. They are not the same rule described three ways — they are different rules affecting different people.

• Myth: “The onshore Student rule started in 2024.” Fact: The 1 July 2024 measure stopped other temporary visa holders — Temporary Graduate, Visitor and Maritime Crew visa holders — from applying for a Student visa while in Australia. It is historical context for the 2026 rule, not the same measure.
• Myth: “The February 2026 visa-hopping ban already covers Student-to-Student applications.” Fact: The Student visa holder applying for another Student visa onshore is governed by the measure the Department communicates as starting 2 October 2026. Keep it distinct from broader onshore-switching accounts.
• Myth: “Qualifying for an exception means my visa is approved.” Fact: An exception permits onshore lodgement only; you must still meet the Subclass 500 requirements at decision.
• Myth: “The Explanatory Statement is the binding law and is already in force.” Fact: The Explanatory Statement describes the instrument; the operative rules sit in the Migration Regulations and the instruments made under them, and the new rules are communicated as applying from 2 October 2026.

These are illustrations to show how the stated conditions operate. They are not legal determinations and not an assessment of any reader's eligibility.

Example 1 — needing more time to finish. Priya holds a Subclass 500 visa. Her CoE for her masters (her main course) ends in March 2027, but she needs an extra nine months to complete it with the same university. Because she needs up to 12 months more after her original course end date, with the same provider, and the course needing more time is her main course, she falls within the completion exception and may lodge onshore. She must still meet every Subclass 500 requirement when a decision is made.

Example 2 — moving up a level. Daniel has completed a bachelor degree and has an offer for a masters by coursework at a higher AQF level. As someone progressing from a completed main course to a higher AQF-level course, he is within the course-progression class and may lodge onshore. Being within the class decides only where he lodges, not the outcome.

Example 3 — dependant becoming the student. Mei currently holds a Student visa as a dependant of her partner. She wants to enrol and apply as the primary student. The Department flags this exact move as caught by the new rule unless an exemption applies. Mei should check whether any exception fits her before her current visa ends, rather than assuming she can lodge onshore.

Keep these two groups separate. The first group is evidence tied to the visa criteria and validity of the application; the second helps support your case but is not the same as the required evidence.

If you are weighing up whether to lodge in Australia or travel offshore, speak to a registered migration agent about your specific circumstances before your current visa nears its end. Global Migrations can help you work through which category, if any, applies to you. You can also check your current Student visa conditions on the Department's Subclass 500 Student visa page.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and should be confirmed against current Department of Home Affairs guidance and the operative instruments before you act. Prepared by Global Migration & Education Solutions (trading as Global Migrations), ABN 22 998 014 414 — registered migration agent Ranbir Singh, MARN 1069570.