After Tony Burke gave his National Press Club address on migration I wrote a blog post on new limits on secondary visa holders, the partners and children of the primary visa holders. Not much detail was available at the time. This post draws on the since enacted legislative instruments to provide this detail.

The new rules on student secondary visa holders interact with new restrictions on onshore student visa applications. So it is not just who can apply for a secondary visa, it is where they can be when they do so.

The main categories of students who can bring partners and children are: students from the Pacific region or ASEAN countries, doctoral students, students sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Department of Defence, and students with fully-funded scholarships from a foreign government. Data on foreign scholarships is not available, but based on recent history the other categories would support about 10,000 secondary visa holders per year.

In addition to this 10,000, transitional categories of current secondary student visa holders already in Australia can remain while their primary visa holder gets another visa for a higher AQF course or due to delays in completing their course.

New restrictions on secondary student visa holders

The default position is now that secondary applicants are not permitted unless they fall into an exempt category.

DFAT and Defence sponsored students

Primary applicants sponsored by the Department of Defence or Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade can bring their partner and/or children: new paragraph 1222(3)(da)(i) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

In 2025-26 3,397 primary student visas were granted to Defence and Foreign Affairs students, accompanied by 1,066 secondary visa applicants.

Exempt countries

Students from Pacific-regional countries can bring partners and children as secondary applicants: new paragraph 1222(3)(da)(i) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

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