Further Subclass 500 Visa: Onshore Rules and Exceptions

From 2 October 2026, new rules change who can apply for and be granted a Student visa (subclass 500) or Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) while in Australia, and whether family members can be included. If you are a current Student visa holder hoping to lodge another Student visa onshore, you will be affected by this change unless one of a limited set of exemptions applies to you.

This page sets out the general onshore restriction, each specified exemption and the exact conditions attached to it, the position for family members, and what to do if no exemption fits your situation — so you can decide whether to lodge onshore, lodge offshore, or adjust your study plans around the 2 October 2026 commencement.

The reform is given legal effect by the Migration (LIN 20/158: Class of Persons for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) Visa Applications) Amendment Instrument 2026. As its title shows, it amends the earlier LIN 20/158 instrument, which specifies classes of persons for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa applications. That instrument operates alongside Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which governs how and where a Student visa application may validly be made.

There is an important distinction here that a lot of circulating commentary gets wrong. An instrument being registered on the Federal Register of Legislation is not the same as it being in force on that date. The Department of Home Affairs consistently states the operational rules apply from 2 October 2026. The register date is the ‘as made’ date; the commencement that matters for applicants is 2 October 2026. For the exact commencement provision, read the instrument’s own commencement clause directly on the legislation register.

One more distinction is worth keeping straight. On the legislation register you can view both the Legislative instrument and its Explanatory statement. The operative text — the instrument itself and the Migration Regulations — is what governs. The Explanatory statement explains intent but does not override the operative words. The Home Affairs fact sheet summarises the rules in plain language, but it is a summary, not the law. Where your situation turns on an exact condition, the operative instrument is what decides it.

The general rule. Under the new rules, most temporary visa holders need to be outside Australia when they lodge a Student or Student Guardian visa application, and outside Australia when the visa is granted. For current Student visa holders who want another Student visa, the position is the same: unless you meet limited exemption criteria, you now need to be outside Australia when you lodge and outside Australia when the visa is granted.

The dependant-to-primary trap. There is one hard line with no way around it. If you hold a Student visa as a dependant (that is, as a family unit member who met the secondary criteria) and you want to apply for a Student visa as the primary applicant, you must lodge from outside Australia and be outside Australia when the visa is granted. There are no exemptions to this rule. This catches, for example, a spouse currently in Australia on a dependant Student visa who now wants to study in their own right — the onshore exemptions below do not help them.

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

Your current visa is unaffected. The changes do not affect the Student visa you already hold. They bite at the point you apply for a new one.

If you currently hold a Student visa, the fact sheet lists the circumstances in which you may be able to apply for another Student visa in Australia. Each is summarised below with the condition the fact sheet states. The precise statutory wording of each class sits in the operative instrument (F2026L01349 amending LIN 20/158); read it there where an exact condition decides your case.

Completing your principal (main) course — up to 12 more months

You may apply onshore 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 have a package of courses, the course you need more time to complete must be your main course (your principal course — the highest or main qualification the package is built around).

Illustration (not a legal determination): Priya holds a Student visa for a bachelor degree that was due to finish in November. She has failed one unit and her provider has confirmed she needs a further semester with the same university to complete the same degree. She needs less than 12 more months and is staying with the same provider for her main course — the completion exemption is the one to examine.

Course progression to a higher AQF level

You may apply onshore if you have completed your main course that has an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level and are progressing to a course at a higher AQF level. The AQF ranks Australian qualifications from level 1 to level 10; progression means moving up that ladder, not sideways or down.

There is a specific restriction on this one. If you completed a higher education course, your next course must also be a higher education course delivered by a higher education provider. Related progression cases are also covered: completing school studies and progressing to a course that does not have an AQF level, and completing a course without an AQF level and progressing to one that has an AQF level.

Illustration (not a legal determination): Chen has completed a bachelor degree (a higher education course) and has an offer for a masters by coursework at a higher education provider — a higher AQF level in the higher education sector. That pattern is the course progression exemption. Check the exact AQF level of both your current and proposed course before relying on it.

PhD (doctoral) study

You may apply onshore if you are applying to study for a PhD. A doctoral degree falls within what the Regulations call a postgraduate research course — a course of study leading to the award of a masters degree (research) or a doctoral degree.

Provider default

You may apply onshore if you cannot continue your course because your education provider has defaulted. The precise meaning of ‘provider default’ for this instrument is set by the operative instrument and the ESOS framework; confirm how it is defined before relying on it. You can check your provider’s and course’s current registration on the CRICOS course search and read the overseas-student regulatory framework through the Department of Education.

School study and government sponsorship

You may also apply onshore if you are applying to do primary or secondary school studies, or if you are sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or Defence. Under the Regulations, a Foreign Affairs student and a Defence student each need the support of the relevant Minister — the Foreign Minister or the Defence Minister — for the grant of the visa.

Reading the table: the onshore route is only open if a specified exemption fits. If none does, the offshore route is the fallback — you lodge from outside Australia and must be outside Australia when the visa is granted. For a dependant wanting to become a primary applicant, offshore is the only route, with no exemption available.

In the limited circumstances where family members can accompany a student, they must apply at the time the primary student applies — the ability to add ‘subsequent entrants’ later has been removed for all students. The Department of Education’s statement indicates that eligible onshore applicants may include only family members already in Australia, so that families already together are not separated.

The same statement describes limited exemptions on including family members applying to: PhD students; nationals of Pacific and ASEAN member countries; and students sponsored by Australian or foreign governments. That description comes from a ministerial statement; the precise legal conditions sit in the operative instrument and should be confirmed there before you rely on them. One procedural point is clear from the fact sheet: the primary applicant and all family members included in the application must be in the same location when the application is lodged.

This is why timing matters so much under the new rules: if a family member is not in the application when it is lodged, there is no longer a later route to add them.

If you lodged before 2 October 2026. Check how applications lodged before 2 October 2026, including those that included family members, will be assessed with the Department of Home Affairs. Lodging a valid application before the commencement date therefore locks in the earlier framework for that application.

On visa application charges. Check the current visa application charge with the Department of Home Affairs.

Meeting an exemption is only the start. Fitting an onshore exemption lets you lodge and be granted in Australia; it does not decide the application. Every Subclass 500 criterion must still be satisfied at the time a decision is made on the application. For a primary applicant, those criteria include enrolment in a course of study, being a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student, genuine access to sufficient funds, adequate health insurance arrangements, and the specified public interest and special return criteria. If your course of study is a postgraduate research course, public interest criterion 4003B also applies. Provider letters and AQF confirmations help you make out an exemption, but they do not remove any of these criteria.

If you may be onshore after 2 October 2026 and want another Student visa: work out which exemption fits before you do anything else, because that decides whether you can stay in Australia to apply. For course progression, confirm both AQF levels using the AQF information linked from the Department of Home Affairs course progression guidance.

If no exemption fits: plan an offshore application. You must be outside Australia when you lodge and when the visa is granted. Confirm your course is current on the CRICOS course search before you commit, and read the full Student visa (subclass 500) conditions on the Department of Home Affairs website.

If your provider has defaulted: keep the provider’s written notice, check the course’s registration on CRICOS, and read your rights under the ESOS regulatory framework for overseas students.

If you want to preserve the earlier rules: a valid application lodged before 2 October 2026 continues to be assessed under the rules in place at lodgement — so check your enrolment and documents are in order well ahead of that date.

You can read more in our companion guides on the 2026 onshore Student visa rules and subclass 500 exceptions and whether you can apply for a Student visa onshore in 2026, or see our Student visa service.