With the 417 or 462 you can no longer apply for the student

From today, 2 October 2026, anyone holding a Working Holiday 417 or 462, a graduate 485 or a tourist visa must be outside Australia to lodge the student visa 500, and must also be outside the day it is granted. Home Affairs states it plainly: there are no exceptions for that list of visas. If you apply from inside, the application is invalid, and an invalid application cannot be appealed to the ART.

Working Holiday Australia: the guide →Viajar a Australia →

Today, 2 October 2026, we read the official Home Affairs pages on the changes to the Student visa (subclass 500) and the Student Guardian (subclass 590). Everything that follows is quoted word for word, with the link to each at the bottom. Quote: «From 2 October 2026, there are new rules for Student visa (subclass 500) and Student Guardian (subclass 590) visas. The rules change who can apply for and be granted a visa while in Australia, and whether family members can be included.»

The paragraph that changes someone's plan is this one: «Under the new rules, most temporary visa holders need to be outside Australia when they lodge a Student or Student Guardian visa application. Those affected temporary visa holders also need to be outside Australia when the visa is granted.»

Before going on, what did NOT change, because the source says that too: «Australia continues to welcome international students. You can still apply for a Student visa if you meet the visa requirements.» The visa is still open, with no quota per country. What changed is where you apply from.

The list of visas that cannot apply for it inside Australia

Quote: «If you hold a visa as a primary or secondary holder on the list below you cannot apply for a student visa in Australia. There are no exemptions to this rule.»

Subclass 400 – Temporary Work (all streams)
Subclass 403 – Domestic Worker (Diplomatic/Consular stream)
Subclass 407 – Training (all streams)
Subclass 408 – Temporary Activity (all streams)
Subclass 417 – Working Holiday (all streams)
Subclass 457 – Temporary Work (all streams)
Subclass 462 – Work and Holiday (all streams)
Subclass 482 – Skills in Demand / Temporary Skill Shortage (all streams)
Subclass 485 – Temporary Graduate
Subclass 600 – Visitor
Subclass 601 – ETA
Subclass 602 – Medical Treatment
Subclass 651 – eVisitor
Subclass 771 – Transit
Subclass 988 – Maritime Crew
Subclass 995 – Diplomatic (Temporary), primary holder only: a family member of a 995 holder can apply for the student visa inside Australia

Two on that list are ours: the 417 (Working Holiday) and the 462 (Work and Holiday), in all their streams. Holders of the graduate 485 and people on a tourist visa are also affected.

What it means if you are already in Australia on the Working Holiday

If you were planning to switch to the student visa without leaving the country, as of today you can't. Point by point, with the quotes:

You must be outside Australia when you lodge the application, and outside the day it is granted. One of the two is not enough.
«You may return to Australia on another valid visa while your Student visa application is being processed, but you must be outside Australia when your Student visa is granted.» You can re-enter on another valid visa while it is being processed, but it can't be granted while you are inside.
«You will not receive a Bridging visa linked to an application lodged outside Australia.» An application lodged from outside does not come with any Bridging visa.
If you lodge from inside anyway: «If you lodge an application in Australia when you are required to be offshore, your application will be invalid.» It is not a refusal: it is an invalid application.
And invalidity cannot be contested: «Invalid decisions cannot be merits reviewed at the ART.»
«An invalid application outcome could affect your visa status and you may not be eligible to apply for a further visa if your visa has already expired.»

The six exceptions, and who they are for

There are exceptions for applying for a student visa while in Australia, but they are for people who already hold a Student visa as the primary holder, not for people on another visa. And dependants are left out: «Dependent or secondary student visa holders cannot apply for a student visa as the primary applicant while in Australia.»

You need up to 12 more months to finish your principal course, with the same provider. You may have changed course, but at the same AQF level or higher.
You are sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or Defence.
You are going to do a doctorate (PhD).
You are going to do primary or secondary school studies.
You have finished your principal course and are applying in Australia to do another course.
You can't continue your course because your education provider has defaulted.

«If you do not meet an exemption, you should not apply in Australia. We will not accept your application if you are not eligible…»

Guardians have their own exception: «Current Student Guardian (subclass 590) visa holders can continue to lodge a further Student Guardian visa application while in Australia.»

Family members: neither when you apply, nor afterwards

«Student visa applicants are no longer able to include family members (partner and/or dependent children) in their Student visa application unless an exemption applies. This also applies to people lodging an application for a further Student visa.»

And the part with no way back: «Current Student visa holders are no longer able to add family members after their Student visa has been granted. There are no exemptions to this rule.»

Home Affairs publishes five exceptions for including family:

Being a doctoral (PhD) student. A Master by Research does not count.
Having sponsorship from Defence or DFAT.
Having a scholarship from a foreign government.
Being an eligible national of a Pacific country or an ASEAN member country.
«Other exemptions», which the page mentions without detailing.

In addition, you may be able to include them in your next visa if you already have them on your current student visa and you apply in Australia, if you need up to 12 more months to finish your principal course, or if you have to apply for another visa because your provider defaulted.

Two fine details: «The primary applicant and all family members included in the application must be in the same location when the application is lodged», and «if you include a family member who is not eligible to be included, their application will be invalid».

Applications lodged before 2 October are not affected

«Student visa applications lodged before the new rules started, including applications that included family members, will continue to be assessed under the rules that were in place when they were lodged.»

In other words: if you have already applied, even with family members included, your application is assessed under the rules in force that day.

What to do if this changes your plan

Up to here, everything is a quote. What follows is our own advice, and we say so:

If your plan was to move from the Working Holiday to the student visa without leaving, the process now includes a trip: you apply from outside, and the grant must also find you outside.
Don't pay tuition or a deposit to a college counting on applying from inside. If you get it wrong, the application isn't refused: it becomes invalid, and that can't be appealed.
The complete step-by-step for the 500 — fees, real processing times by sector, verified course prices and the funds amounts — is in our guide to the Australia student visa, already updated with this rule.

Official sources

Verified on 2 October 2026. If any of this changes, we will update the article and let you know by email.