Applying Onshore for a Further Subclass 500 Visa in 2026

From 2 October 2026, most temporary visa holders in Australia will no longer be able to lodge a Student (subclass 500) or Student Guardian (subclass 590) visa application while in Australia. If you already hold a Student visa and want another one, this rule affects you too — you can only apply onshore if one of a short list of exemptions applies.

The changes affect applications lodged on or after 2 October 2026. They decide where you must be when you lodge your next application and when it is granted. If an exemption does not apply to you, you will need to be outside Australia both when you lodge and when the visa is granted.

This guide sets out who can still make a subclass 500 further visa application from inside Australia, the exact conditions on each exemption, how family members are treated, and what to do before you commit to study, travel or relocation plans.

The onshore restriction and its exemptions are set out in the Department of Home Affairs guidance on the changes to Student visa application rules. The operative provisions sit within the Migration (LIN 20/158: Class of Persons for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) Visa Applications) Instrument 2020, an instrument made under the Migration Regulations 1994 and administered by Home Affairs. The identity and registration details of any amending instrument, including LIN 26/087, remain to be confirmed against the Federal Register of Legislation.

One point needs to be clear before you plan around it. The identity, registration details and exact commencement clause of any amending instrument, including the reference LIN 26/087, should be confirmed against the registered text on the Federal Register of Legislation before you rely on them. The 2 October 2026 date is the date Home Affairs has published for the new rules; the superseded version of LIN 20/158 runs to 1 October 2026, which is consistent with the amendments taking effect the next day.

From 2 October 2026, most temporary visa holders in Australia — including Working Holiday Maker and Skills in Demand (subclass 482) holders — can no longer lodge a Student visa onshore application in Australia. This is the core of the student visa changes 2026.

The rule reaches current Student visa holders as well. If you hold a Student visa and want another one, you are caught by the restriction unless an exemption applies. It also reaches people who currently hold a Student visa as a dependant (a family member who met the secondary criteria) and now want to apply as the primary applicant (the person who meets the main study criteria).

If no exemption fits your situation, the consequence is concrete: you must be outside Australia when you lodge the application, and outside Australia when it is granted. That is a travel and timing decision to make before, not after, your current visa approaches its end.

Current Student Guardian (subclass 590) visa holders are treated differently — they can continue to lodge a further Student Guardian application while in Australia.

If you hold a subclass 482 visa and were counting on switching to study onshore, read our dedicated explainer on whether 482 holders can apply for a Student visa onshore in 2026.

If you are a Student visa holder, you may be able to apply for another Student visa in Australia if one of the following applies to you. Each has its own conditions, and the detail matters — getting the exemption wrong means lodging in the wrong place.

1. You need up to 12 more months to finish your main course

This exemption covers a student who needs up to 12 more months after their original course end date to complete their studies. Two conditions attach. 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 for must be your main course (your principal course).

This is a completion exemption, not a progression one. It exists so a student who has fallen behind in their existing principal course can finish it, with the same provider. It is not a path to a different or higher course — that is the separate progression exemption below. Conflating the two is one of the most common mistakes being made about these rules.

2. You are progressing to a higher course (course progression)

This exemption covers a student who has completed their main course that has an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level and is progressing to a course at a higher AQF level. The AQF is the national system that ranks qualifications by level — a certificate sits below a diploma, which sits below a bachelor degree, and so on.

One condition is explicit and easy to miss: if you completed a higher education course, your next course must also be a higher education course delivered by a higher education provider. You cannot complete higher education and then step down into a vocational (VET) course under this exemption.

Two related situations are also covered: a student who has completed school studies and is progressing to a course that does not have an AQF level, and a student who has completed a course without an AQF level and is progressing to one that does have an AQF level.

3. You are applying to study for a PhD (doctoral students)

A student who is applying to study for a PhD may apply for another Student visa in Australia. A doctoral degree sits within what the Migration Regulations define as a postgraduate research course.

4. You cannot continue because your provider has defaulted

A student who cannot continue their course because their education provider has defaulted may apply for another Student visa in Australia. Under the ESOS framework, provider default occurs where a registered provider fails to start or ceases to deliver a course to an overseas student, which engages the Tuition Protection Service. For how provider default is defined and established for your case, see the ESOS regulatory information for overseas students, which covers provider obligations and the Tuition Protection Service.

5. Primary or secondary school students, and government-sponsored students

A student who is applying to do primary or secondary school studies may apply onshore, as may a student who is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or Defence.

Student visa applicants can no longer include family members — a partner and/or dependent children — in a Student visa application unless an exemption applies. This also applies when you lodge for a further Student visa.

You may be able to include family members at the time you apply if you are: studying a PhD; sponsored by DFAT or Defence; receiving a foreign government scholarship; or an eligible student from a Pacific country or an ASEAN member country.

There is a separate protection for families already here. If you already have family members included in your current Student visa and you are applying in Australia, you may be able to include them in your next Student visa application. When family members are included, the primary applicant and all family members must be in the same location when the application is lodged.

In the subclass 500 structure, the primary criteria must be satisfied by at least one member of a family unit; the other members who are applicants need satisfy only the secondary criteria. A dependant’s ability to be included therefore rises and falls with the primary applicant’s eligibility to apply.

This is an illustration, not a legal determination of any person’s eligibility.

Priya holds a Student visa for a master’s degree (course work) with one provider. Her original course end date passes, but she needs another eight months to complete after failing two units. She wants to stay and keep studying with the same university.

Priya’s situation fits the completion exemption: she needs fewer than 12 months after her original course end date, she is continuing with the same education provider, and the master’s is her main course. She may therefore lodge a further subclass 500 application in Australia. That does not settle the grant — she must still be a genuine student, show sufficient funds, meet English and health insurance requirements, and satisfy the public interest criteria when the decision is made.

Contrast this with Daniel, who has finished the same master’s and wants to start a different master’s at a lower AQF-equivalent level. Completion does not help him — he needs the progression exemption, and because he completed a higher education course his next course must also be a higher education course with a higher education provider. A step down would not meet that condition.

Applications lodged before the new rules started — including applications that included family members — will continue to be assessed under the rules that were in place when they were lodged. In plain terms, lodgement date fixes which rules apply to your application.

If your current visa is nearing its end and you have a clean onshore case under the former rules, the date you lodge is decisive. If you cannot lodge before the changes take effect and no exemption fits you, the practical consequence is that you will need to be outside Australia to lodge and to be granted. Build travel time into that plan rather than assuming you can switch from inside Australia.

These onshore rules are distinct from the separate provider-transfer restriction. As a transition measure until the new transfer visa takes effect, non-school students must remain in their principal course for 12 months before seeking a transfer, up from six months, while school students remain subject to the existing six-month restriction for their first registered school course. The 12-month transfer restriction is about changing providers; the 12-month completion exemption above is about finishing your existing principal course with the same provider. They are not the same thing.

For a fuller walk-through of the onshore position, see our companion guides on whether you can apply for a Student visa onshore in 2026 and the 2026 onshore Student visa rules and subclass 500 exceptions.

A few legal points should be confirmed against official sources before anyone acts on them. These are matters for verification, not assumptions to build plans on:

• The identity, Federal Register number, registration date and exact commencement clause of any amending instrument, including the reference LIN 26/087, confirmed against the Federal Register of Legislation.
• Whether registration of that instrument equals its commencement, read from its commencement provision.
• How provider default is defined and established for your case — see the ESOS regulatory information for overseas students.

Documents that are required for the application include your Confirmation of Enrolment, and evidence addressing the primary criteria — funds, English, and health insurance arrangements — which must be satisfied when the decision is made. Documents that may support your case include records showing why you need more time to complete (for the completion exemption), evidence of course completion and your next enrolment (for progression), and documentation of your provider’s default (for the provider-default exemption).

To check a course’s current registration, use the CRICOS course search. For the subclass 500 visa, including its conditions and the current list of affected visas, check the Department of Home Affairs Student visa (subclass 500) pages directly. For how provider obligations and default work, see the ESOS regulatory information for overseas students. For help assessing your own situation, see our Student visa service.