Updated 13 November 2026. By Atul Pandey, Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2016128).
If you are preparing a Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) application with your partner or children, check the family rules before lodging. From 13 November 2026, a new secondary application must meet one of six eligibility gateways and be lodged at the same time as, and combined with, the primary applicant’s application.
That changes the advice for graduates planning to lodge first and add their family later. It does not mean every graduate has lost the ability to include their family. Many existing Student visa dependants remain within a protected category.
These changes come from the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Reform) Regulations 2026, registered on 12 November 2026.
First, what does “subsequent entrant” mean?
Previously, eligible family members could apply in two ways: together with the graduate, or separately afterwards, including after the graduate’s 485 visa had been granted. That second route was called subsequent entry. It was a separate visa application, not simply an address update or adding a name to an existing visa.
For new applications from 13 November 2026, there are two separate tests, and both must be met:
- Permission to be included: the family member must fall within at least one of the six gateways below.
- How and when to apply: the family application must be made at the same time as, and combined with, a new primary 485 application.
The gateways are not exceptions to the timing rule. A listed passport, completed doctorate or qualifying dependant-visa history may let a family member join a combined application. None allows them to make a standalone 485 application after the primary applicant has already lodged or received their visa.
The change in one minute
| Question | Applications made from 13 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Can I include my partner or children? | Potentially, if the family member meets one of the six gateways below and the other requirements. |
| Can they make a new subsequent-entrant application after I lodge? | The new rules require a same-time combined application. Do not lodge alone on the assumption you can add them through a separate 485 application later. |
| Must we both be in Australia? | The primary applicant must be in Australia. The secondary applicant may be in or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance. |
| Does this cancel an existing 485 visa? | No. This amendment changes application requirements; it does not itself cancel existing visas. |
| What if the application was lodged before 13 November? | The amendment applies to applications made on or after commencement. A pre-commencement application is not brought under these changes merely because it remains undecided. |
The practical difference: check and prepare the family application before the primary applicant lodges, rather than assuming the family can follow through a separate 485 application later.
The six gateways for including family
A secondary applicant must claim to be a member of the primary applicant’s family unit and meet at least one of these categories. Meeting a category is only the first check: it does not establish every requirement for a visa grant.
1. The primary applicant holds a specified passport
This gateway looks at the primary applicant’s passport, not simply the partner’s nationality. The current statutory lists cover these 23 countries:
Pacific-regional countries (regulation 1.03): Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Other specified countries (Schedule 1, item 1222(5A)): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Timor-Leste appears in the statutory Pacific-regional list. These are legal lists, not a general reference to all countries in the Pacific or Asia. The names were checked against the Migration Regulations, regulation 1.03 and item 1222(5A).
Even if the primary applicant holds one of these passports, the family must still lodge at the same time in a combined application.
2. The primary applicant has completed a doctorate
The primary applicant’s most recent Student visa was granted in relation to a doctoral degree that has been completed. Being enrolled in a PhD is not enough for this particular 485 gateway.
3. The relevant study was fully foreign-government funded
The primary applicant’s most recent Student visa was granted in relation to one or more courses, each fully funded by a foreign government. A partial scholarship or university-funded award should not be treated as automatically satisfying this category.
4. A child was born after the relevant visa grant
The secondary applicant is the primary applicant’s child, born after the primary applicant’s most recent Student or 485 visa was granted. This category does not remove the new same-time combined-application requirement.
Born outside Australia: A child born after the relevant visa grant may be included in a qualifying new combined first or second 485 application. You cannot add an overseas-born child to an already granted 485 through a new subsequent-entrant application.
Born in Australia while you hold a 485: Home Affairs confirms the child automatically holds a dependant 485. You must notify the Department of the birth; a separate visa application is not required. See You had a baby. If a baby is born while an application is pending, check the separate newborn process for that situation rather than assuming the post-grant process applies.
5. The family member has qualifying Student-dependant history
The secondary applicant holds a Student visa granted on secondary criteria, or held one on 2 October 2026, or held one within the six months immediately before the new application. The earlier visa must link them to the same primary applicant, who holds or held that Student visa on primary criteria.
The 2 October date and six-month lookback are alternatives, not cumulative requirements. Someone holding their own Student visa as a primary applicant does not qualify under this category simply because they are now a partner.
6. The family member has qualifying 485-dependant history
The secondary applicant holds, or held within the six months immediately before the new application, a 485 visa granted on secondary criteria, linked to the same primary applicant. This may matter when a family applies together for a further eligible 485 visa. It is not permission to lodge a separate subsequent-entrant application.
What this looks like in practice
An existing Student-dependant partner: A graduate and their partner are moving from Student visas to a first 485. The partner holds a secondary Student visa linked to that graduate. Gateway 5 may allow them to apply together. They still need to satisfy the other requirements and lodge the combined application at the same time.
A new partner without that visa history: A graduate wants to include a partner who has never held a qualifying secondary Student or 485 visa. They need to check the other gateways. The relationship alone is no longer enough to establish permission to make a new secondary 485 application.
A completed PhD graduate with an offshore partner: Gateway 2 may be available if the most recent Student visa related to the completed doctorate. The primary applicant must be in Australia, but the partner may be offshore when they lodge together. This differs from the separate Student visa family rules.
These examples illustrate the new application rules, not individual eligibility findings.
Already lodged, already granted, or still planning?
Family application lodged before 13 November: Keep evidence of the actual lodgement date. The new amendment does not apply simply because the Department decides it later.
Primary application lodged, family not yet applied: Do not assume the primary application’s earlier date protects a new family application. The transition provision applies to the application being made. Check the route before paying or submitting anything.
Primary 485 already granted: An existing grant does not preserve the old subsequent-entrant route for a new application made from 13 November. Existing family visas are not cancelled by this reform, but a fresh application must be assessed under the applicable new rules.
Neither application lodged: Check the relevant gateway, prepare both applications and evidence together, and confirm location and visa-status requirements before lodging.
“I already have my 485 and I am getting married. Can my spouse join me?”
Not through a new standalone 485 subsequent-entrant application under these rules. Marriage does not reopen an already granted application. Even a primary applicant with a listed passport or a completed doctorate must satisfy the same-time combined rule for a new family application.
There may be another route, but it must be assessed on its own requirements. For example, if the primary applicant independently qualifies for a new Second Post-Higher Education Work visa, a combined application may be worth examining, but the spouse must still meet a gateway. Eligibility for a second 485 does not by itself make a newly married spouse eligible.
Other possibilities to assess include the spouse’s own genuine study or work pathway, or family inclusion in a different future visa for which the couple qualify. A short Visitor visa may be considered only for a genuine temporary visit; it does not allow work and is not a replacement for a long-term family visa.
An ordinary Partner visa generally requires an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen sponsor. Holding a temporary 485 alone does not meet that requirement. None of these possibilities can be confirmed without the couple’s visa, passport, relationship and eligibility details.
Check these documents before you lodge
- Passports and evidence identifying the relevant country category, if relied on.
- Visa grant notices showing who was the primary applicant and who was a secondary applicant.
- Current and historical visa dates, including the 2 October 2026 position and six-month lookback where relevant.
- Doctoral completion evidence or full foreign-government funding evidence, if relying on those categories.
- Relationship or birth evidence establishing the family-unit claim and any relevant birth timing.
- Each applicant’s location and visa status at lodgement.
For an onshore secondary applicant, the new rule also requires a substantive visa, a qualifying Bridging A or Bridging B visa granted on the basis of a valid visa application, or a narrowly defined recent ART outcome concerning Student visa cancellation. Do not assume every bridging visa is sufficient.
Why the timing matters
These are application-validity requirements in Schedule 1, not just documents the Department might ask for later. Getting them wrong can mean there is no valid visa application. A family plan should therefore be checked before the primary application is submitted.
ImmiAccount accepting the details does not prove eligibility. Home Affairs warns that the system may allow you to add family members who do not meet the new rules. Their application will be invalid if the eligibility requirements are not met. That can affect their visa status and ability to apply for another visa, particularly if their existing visa has expired. An invalidity decision cannot be merits-reviewed. Do not rely on the online form accepting an entry as a legal eligibility check.
The changes do not resolve separate questions about reusing a Confirmation of Enrolment for a fresh Student visa. Nor should the 485 completed-doctorate exception be confused with the separate PhD Student visa family rules.
Sources: Home Affairs: changes to 485 family member rules; Home Affairs family rules factsheet; Registered amending regulations, especially Schedule 1 items 7, 13, 18 and 19; official explanatory statement. General information, not a finding about your individual visa eligibility.
