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Two of the changes announced on 17 September 2026 are now law. Most of the package is not. The skilled visa processing priorities took effect on 19 September 2026, and the Student visa rules took effect on 2 October 2026. The working holiday ballot, the visitor visa condition and the rebuilt points test have been announced but, as at 22 October 2026, are not reflected in the Department’s own visa requirements.
That distinction matters, because a great deal of the commentary published since September describes the entire package as though it were already in force. This guide sets out the current status of each measure, checked against the Department of Home Affairs, and will be updated as each one commences.
Not sure how the 2026 changes affect your plans? Our immigration lawyers in Sydney can confirm which rules apply to your situation before you lodge, enrol or book travel.
Measure | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
Skilled visa processing priorities (Directions 121 and 122) | In force | 19 September 2026 |
Student and Student Guardian visas: family members and onshore lodgement | In force | 2 October 2026 |
485 graduate visas: family members excluded | Announced only | No commencement date published |
Working Holiday Maker ballot for second and third visas | Announced only | No commencement date published |
Visitor visas: no further stay condition | Announced only | No commencement date published |
Rebuilt points test for permanent skilled migration | Announced only | No commencement date published |
Status checked against Department of Home Affairs guidance on 22 October 2026. The Government has said the package will be implemented progressively over twelve months from 17 September 2026.
An announcement is not a rule change. Until a measure is made by regulation or legislative instrument and reflected in the visa requirements, the existing rules still apply to your application.
This is the change with the widest immediate effect, and it is already operating. From 2 October 2026 there are new rules for the Student visa (subclass 500) and the Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) covering two separate things: whether family members can be included, and whether you can lodge while you are in Australia. The Department has published a dedicated Student visa changes page setting out both.
Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner or dependent children in the application unless an exemption applies, and that also applies when lodging a further Student visa. Separately, current Student visa holders can no longer add family members after the visa has been granted, and the Department states there are no exemptions to that rule at all.
The exemptions that allow family to be included at application are limited: PhD students, students sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or Defence, foreign government scholarship recipients, and eligible students from Pacific and ASEAN member countries. There are also continuity cases, where family members already included on a current Student visa may be included again if you are applying in Australia, or where you need up to twelve more months to finish your main course, or where your education provider has defaulted. The primary applicant and all family members must be in the same location when the application is lodged.
Under the new rules most temporary visa holders must be outside Australia both when they lodge a Student or Student Guardian application and when the visa is granted. Current Student visa holders applying for another Student visa must also be offshore unless they meet an exemption.
The exemptions include needing up to twelve more months with the same provider to finish your main course, DFAT or Defence sponsorship, a PhD, primary or secondary school studies, progression to a higher AQF level, and education provider default. One rule has no exemption at all: if you hold a Student visa as a dependant and want to apply as the primary applicant, you must lodge from outside Australia. Student Guardian visa holders can still lodge a further 590 application in Australia.
If you qualify for an onshore exemption, you generally cannot package courses together unless you are applying for primary or secondary school studies, a PhD, or your provider has defaulted. Applicants relying on the course progression exemption must be enrolled in only one future course. Enrol in more than one and the application may not be valid.
The Department also expects you to start the next course at the first available intake, with a gap of no more than about two months during the teaching year, or four months between academic years.
Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 replaced the priorities that applied under Direction 119. Direction 121 governs the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa, and Direction 122 governs subclasses 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 489, 491, 494, 887 and 888. Applications connected to construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources, or to Australia’s law enforcement and defence interests, are reached first, followed by the Specialist Skills stream for the 482, then onshore lodgements.
These Directions change the processing order only. They do not change eligibility, occupation lists, sponsorship or nomination requirements. We cover the tiers in detail in our guide to Ministerial Directions 121 and 122.
As at 22 October 2026, the following measures were announced in September but are not reflected in the Department’s published visa requirements:
None of this means the measures will not proceed. It means they are not rules yet, and planning around them as though they were is a mistake.
Migration measures are almost always made by regulation or legislative instrument, not by press conference. Between the announcement and the commencement date there is usually a drafting process, and the final rule often differs from the summary that was announced, particularly on exemptions and transitional arrangements.
That gap has real consequences. Someone who delayed lodging a Student visa application in September because they read that family members were already excluded may have lost the chance to include them before 2 October. Someone who assumes the working holiday ballot is running may wait for a ballot that has not opened. The safe approach is to apply the rules that exist on the day you lodge, and to check the commencement date of anything you are told has changed.
The situation: A master’s student in Sydney holds a Student visa granted last year. Their partner is overseas, and the plan was to add the partner to the visa once the student settled into the course.
Where they now stand: That option closed on 2 October 2026. Family members can no longer be added to a Student visa after grant, and the Department states there are no exemptions to that rule. Whether the partner can be included in a future Student visa application depends on the limited exemption criteria, and on where both of them are when it is lodged.
The point: The student’s own visa is unaffected and remains valid. What changed is the pathway they were relying on, and it changed without a transitional period. This is the measure most likely to disrupt plans made earlier in the year.
The practical risk in a year like this is acting on a rule that does not exist yet, or missing one that already does. Both are avoidable with a check before you lodge.
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If the 2026 changes affect your plans, book a free 15-minute consultation. We will confirm which rules apply to your situation, whether an exemption is available, and what to do before your current visa expires.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice for your specific situation. The status of each measure is current as at 22 October 2026 and migration rules change frequently. Confirm the position on the Department of Home Affairs website or with a migration lawyer before acting.
Partly. The skilled visa processing priorities under Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 commenced on 19 September 2026, and the Student and Student Guardian visa rules commenced on 2 October 2026. The remaining measures announced on 17 September 2026 had not commenced as at 22 October 2026, and no start dates had been published for them.
Only if an exemption applies. From 2 October 2026, Student visa applicants cannot include a partner or dependent children unless they are a PhD student, sponsored by DFAT or Defence, a foreign government scholarship recipient, or an eligible student from a Pacific or ASEAN member country. Limited continuity exemptions also apply where family members are already included on a current Student visa.
In most cases, no. Under the rules that commenced on 2 October 2026, most temporary visa holders must be outside Australia when they lodge and when the visa is granted. Student visa holders may qualify for an onshore exemption, including where they need up to twelve more months with the same provider, are studying a PhD, or are progressing to a higher AQF level.
Not as at 22 October 2026. A ballot for second and third Working Holiday Maker visas was announced in September 2026, but the Department’s subclass 417 pages make no reference to a ballot and the existing eligibility criteria continue to apply. Apply under the current rules rather than waiting for a ballot that has not opened.
Yes, as at 22 October 2026. The announced exclusion of family members from Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visas has not commenced, and the Department’s 485 pages still state that you can bring your family with you. That may change, so confirm the position before you lodge.
No. A rebuilt points test for permanent skilled migration was announced in September 2026, but no draft or commencement date had been published as at 22 October 2026. The current points test continues to apply to the Skilled Independent (189), Skilled Nominated (190) and Skilled Work Regional (491) visas.
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