UK-style student visa dependant ban looms in Australia

Australian educators fear Canberra could impose a UK-style restriction on overseas students’ dependants, in the latest policy changes to drive down net migration. 

Speculation is mounting that the government plans to clamp down on “secondary” visas for the partners and children of international students, following complaints that almost 30 per cent of temporary graduate visas go to students’ family members.

Pauline Hanson, leader of the populist One Nation party, said foreigners were using student visas as a “back door” into Australia. “Then they bring in their family members or their spouses,” Hanson told the News24 platform.

“I wouldn’t have these spouses and families coming out with student visas,” Hanson told Channel 9. “If you’re worried about leaving your family, then do it online from your own country.”

In 2024 the UK banned international students, other than those undertaking postgraduate research degrees, from bringing dependants, causing a sharp drop in enrolments from overseas. This change is thought to have helped maintain Australia’s post-Covid popularity as an educational destination, despite the escalating costs, delays and rejections of study visas Down Under.

Migration expert Abul Rizvi said banning students’ dependants was “poor policy” that effectively forced families to separate. “Governments don’t have a good record of separating families,” said Rizvi, former deputy secretary of Australia’s Department of Immigration.

“If you’re going to study a four-year degree, living without your partner [or] dependant child is hard. The key question is, is the student a high-quality student? Whether they’re married or not is neither here nor there.”

The International Education Association of Australia said it was inequitable to force families to put their lives on hold while someone was educated abroad. “To have to leave behind your partner and children for the entire duration of your study programme is almost unconscionable and would surely go against common decency across a number of political parties,” said CEO Phil Honeywood.

“The average course duration is four years. That’s a very long time to leave your partner and children back in the home country and would clearly act as a major disincentive to choose Australia over certain other study destination countries.”

Rizvi said PhD students were particularly likely to have dependants, given their relative maturity. “They’re exactly the people we want. Why clamp down on exactly the people we want?”

Many coursework students also bring spouses with them, often to help bankroll their studies. Bhutanese students, for example, often take turns studying while their partners work to pay the bills.

Over the past decade, an annual average of about 47,000 Australian student visas – 13 per cent of the overall caseload – have been granted to secondary applicants. Dependants of postgraduate research students have claimed just 10 per cent of them, with 53 per cent going to family members of bachelor’s and master’s degree students. Another 29 per cent went to people accompanying vocational students.

Speculation about the government’s latest measures to curb migration has escalated since home affairs minister Tony Burke cancelled an appearance at the National Press Club, where he had been expected to announce changes. Working holidaymaker (WHM) visas are thought to be on the hit list, after the government announced that it would expand the use of “ballots” – currently applied to applicants from China, India and Vietnam – in the May federal budget.

The Home Affairs Department has slowed down the processing of WHM visas and paused applications from 24 countries with capped allocations. However, it could struggle to cut working holidayers from 19 countries with uncapped allocations – particularly the UK, whose citizens receive special treatment under a 2023 free trade agreement with Australia.

Britons now qualify for three-year WHM visas without needing to meet work requirements. Other nationalities can only stay longer than a year if they work for substantial periods in remote Australia or in certain types of agricultural, mining, construction, disaster recovery or healthcare employment. UK citizens attracted almost 80,000 working holiday visas in 2024-25 alone – far more than any other nationality.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com