You have a decision to make this week, and the date that decides it has not been published. The Home Affairs Minister told the National Press Club on 17 September 2026 that new student and graduate visas will exclude family, that every new visitor visa will carry no further stay, and that second and third year backpacker visas will go to a ballot. None of it starts until a legislative instrument is registered with a commencement date. Consequently, the question is not what the rules will be. It is what you can lodge under the rules that still apply today.
Short answer: Every measure announced applies to future applications, and a complete application lodged before commencement is normally decided under the rules at lodgement. If you were going to lodge a subsequent entrant for your family, a combined 485, an onshore partner visa from a visitor visa without condition 8503, or a second year working holiday application, lodge it now. Do not lodge a rushed or weak file to beat a date.
The five dates that matter
- 17 Sep 2026The speech. Measures announced, no commencement dates, all to be made by regulation or ministerial direction.
- Instrument dayEach measure is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation with its own start date and transitional rules, usually a few weeks out. This is the deadline.
- Your visa expiryFor visitor visa holders without 8503, the onshore partner route stays open only while the current visa is in force.
- Ballot openingSecond year working holiday places go to 45,000 ballot entrants and third year places to 5,000. Dates to come.
- 1 July 2027The net migration target of 245,000 for this year gives way to 225,000 for 2027-28. Expect processing outside priority sectors to stay slow until then.
Which application is yours?
New student and 485 applications will not include partners or dependent children. Exceptions: PhD and certain research courses, Pacific and ASEAN nationals and, according to the international education sector, sponsored students. Families already in Australia are not affected, because the Minister said no family onshore will be broken up. However, a partner or child who has not yet applied is a new application, and that is the one the ban catches. Lodge the subsequent entrant now with relationship evidence, funds and health cover. For scale, 337,427 student visas were granted in 2024-25 and 45,991 of them went to family members. The 500 visa page sets out the current criteria.
Every visitor visa granted after commencement will carry condition 8503, no further stay. That condition stops the holder applying for most other visas in Australia, including the onshore partner visa, unless it is waived for compelling and compassionate circumstances that arose after grant and were outside the holder’s control. So check VEVO today. A visitor visa already granted without 8503 keeps its conditions, and the onshore partner application can still be lodged while it is in force. The partner visa charge is $11,710 for the main applicant. The offshore route is unchanged; see the partner visa page.
First year visas are untouched. Second year visas are capped at 45,000 places by ballot, down from about 57,000 granted last year. Third year visas drop to 5,000 from about 31,000. The 88 days and six months of specified regional work still have to be done, except by UK citizens, who are exempt under the trade agreement. Processing has already slowed to around three months. Therefore, document every shift now and enter the ballot the day it opens. Criteria are on the working holiday page.
Housing and construction trade qualifications will score the same points as a university degree. Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, fisheries and resources move to the front of the processing queue under the updated ministerial direction. Nothing changed for the 482, the 186 or the size of the permanent program. If your occupation sits outside those sectors and you are applying from overseas, expect a wait of a year or more to continue. A state nomination in a priority sector changes your place in the line.
What did not change
Student visa numbers. The length and eligibility of the 485, including the extra year for Indian graduates under the trade agreement, which the Minister said would be honoured. The 482 and the 186. The offshore partner visa and the onshore partner visa themselves. Parent visas. The humanitarian program at 20,000 places. First year working holiday visas. Therefore, if your plan does not depend on bringing family on a student visa, switching visas from a visitor visa, or a second backpacker year, today changed your processing time, not your eligibility.
Why the government went this way
Net overseas migration was 292,100 in the year to March 2026. The target is 245,000 this financial year and 225,000 the year after. The Minister’s own case was that migration did not cause the housing shortage, but must soften enough for housing to catch up, and that cuts made too deep would damage services and the economy. The pressure point is the stock of long stay temporary visa holders: 413,000 people were on bridging visas in June 2026, up from 130,450 in 2017, and roughly 1,580 protection claims are lodged each month with about 90 per cent refused. Talks with the Coalition on legislation broke down, so every measure is one the Minister can make alone. That also means each can be disallowed by the Senate, and each will arrive with its own start date.
Protection claims and overstayers
About 77,000 people are in Australia without a visa. The Minister said the approach used before 2015 returns: a direction to leave, then short detention and removal for those who refuse. There are 100 more compliance officers and 250 more detention beds. Removing work rights from refused protection claimants during review was considered by cabinet but needs Parliament, and agents who encourage claims without merit face deregistration. If your visa has expired, a voluntary departure on a bridging visa E generally avoids the re-entry ban that a removal carries. Our bridging visa page explains the options.
I lodged before the speech. Am I safe?
Usually. Migration regulations normally apply to applications made on or after commencement, and nothing the Minister said suggests the family ban reaches into the queue. The transitional provisions in each instrument will confirm it. The risk is adding a family member after commencement, because that is a new application. Add anyone you intend to add now.
Lodge now checklist
If two or more boxes are open, contact us before you lodge anything. A refusal on genuineness or funds costs more than the wait.
Policy detail from the Minister’s National Press Club address and same day reporting on 17 September 2026. The partner visa charge is verified against Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is the student family ban already in force?
No. It was announced on 17 September 2026 and will start when a legislative instrument is registered with a commencement date. Until then the current rules apply and subsequent entrant applications can be lodged.
Which students keep the right to bring family?
PhD and certain research students, Pacific and ASEAN nationals and, according to the international education sector, sponsored students. The exact list will be in the instrument.
Can I still get a second year working holiday visa if I do my 88 days?
The 88 days still have to be done, but eligibility no longer guarantees a visa. Second year visas go to 45,000 ballot places and third year visas to 5,000. Enter the ballot as soon as it opens.
Does no further stay stop me applying for a partner visa onshore?
For visitor visas granted after the change, yes in most cases, unless the condition is waived for compelling and compassionate circumstances outside your control that arose after grant. Visitor visas already granted without 8503 keep their conditions.
Which skilled occupations are processed first now?
Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, fisheries and resources under the updated ministerial direction, and housing trade qualifications gain points equal to a degree. Other occupations keep their place in the queue.
General information as at 17 September 2026. Not legal advice. The measures described were announced but not yet in force when this was written, and eligibility turns on your own facts, so obtain advice before lodging.