From 13 November 2026, a partner can only be included in a 485 visa application if one of the listed conditions is met, and the application must be lodged at the same time as the primary applicant’s application. The conditions concern citizens of certain Southeast Asian countries, a doctoral degree, government funding, a child born during a 485 visa, and a combined student visa held within 6 months before lodgement.
Who can include a partner
A partner can be included in a 485 application if the applicant meets one of the conditions. First: citizenship of one of the countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.
Second: the primary applicant, who is not on that list, has completed a doctoral degree. Third: the applicant was funded by a foreign government. As the material notes, applicants under this category have not yet been encountered, so the scope of it remains unclear.
Fourth: a child was born to the applicant while the 485 visa granted was in effect. The child is included in the application as a dependant.
Combined student visa
A separate condition applies to those who, on 2 October or within 6 months before lodging the first 485, held a student visa, with the second applicant being a secondary applicant on it. If both held the student visa together, a secondary applicant on that same student visa can be included in the 485 within the 6-month period before lodging the 485.
A separate case is a 485 renewal. The previous 485, if it was not itself a renewal, must have been lodged together with the same partner, and for a renewal 485 the 6-month period before lodging the renewal application applies.
General lodgement requirements
A secondary applicant may be inside Australia or outside it, but without immigration clearance — this is permitted. The application must be lodged together, not separately: the secondary applicant’s application is lodged at the same time as the primary applicant’s. A subsequent entrant application for the 485 visa is no longer provided for.
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