Family Member Eligibility

Your family members are only eligible to accompany you to Australia if your course is 12 months or longer.

You must declare all family members on your application, even if they do not plan to travel with you to Australia. If you do not declare all family members on your application, they will not be eligible to come as dependants after you have arrived in Australia. You must also provide proof of your relationship to them, in the form of officially issued birth and marriage certificates.

Your family members must meet specific requirements to be eligible for this visa as a student dependant.

Genuine temporary entrant requirement

Your dependent family member’s individual circumstances must demonstrate that your dependent family member genuinely intends to stay in Australia temporarily.

The factors that are considered during assessment of the genuine temporary entrant (GTE) requirement include: your dependent family member’s personal circumstances in your home country, your dependent family member’s potential circumstances in Australia, your dependent family member’s immigration history, and any other matter that is relevant to your dependent family member’s intention to remain in Australia temporarily. If your dependent family member is a minor the intentions of their parent, legal guardian or spouse will also be considered.

The information provided in your application form and supporting documentation will be used to assess the GTE requirement. You may be requested to provide additional information in relation to the factors set out above.
See: Genuine Temporary Entrant – Frequently Asked Questions (73KB PDF file)

Financial requirements

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have enough money to support your family members while they are in Australia.
See: Financial Requirements

Health requirements

Your dependant family members must meet certain health requirements and may need to undergo a health examination. The requirements vary based on:

• length of stay in Australia
• other health risks in home country or countries visited for more than three months within the last five years.

Note: Health examinations can be completed before you lodge your visa application, but no more than six months before your course starts.
See: Health requirements

Health insurance

Your family members must have health insurance while in Australia. You can include them in your Overseas Student Health Cover, which provides medical and hospital insurance.
See: Overseas Student Health Cover – Frequently Asked Questions

Proof of insurance: When you lodge your application, you must provide a receipt or other proof of your health insurance payment covering your family members.

Character requirements

Your family members must be of good character to enter Australia. The information provided on the Character Declaration section of your application, will be used to assess the character of your family members.
See: Character and penal clearance requirements

Australian Values Statement

All visa applicants aged 18 years or over, must declare that they will respect Australian values and obey the laws of Australia. For applicants of this visa, the values statement is included in the general declaration section of the application form. By signing the form applicants will also be signing the values statement. Applicants for this visa will not be required to have read the Life in Australia book, but may do so if they want.

Visa applicants are also encouraged to gain an understanding of Australia, its people and their way of life, before applying for this visa.
See: Australian Values - Overview