GS Statement If You Are Married or Have Children

GS Statement If You Are Married or Have Children

If you are married or have children, your Genuine Student (GS) answers now depend on one rule. The Home Affairs student visa page says applicants must "not bring family members (partners and children) to Australia, unless exempt." Most married coursework applicants are not exempt, so their answers describe a family that stays home. Only exempt applicants, such as PhD students, describe a family that comes.

The rule applies from 2 October 2026; the visa page says "Most Student visa applicants can no longer include family members." A GS sample written before then may assume the spouse comes too. If you are not exempt, that is a plan you cannot lodge, and it contradicts your own application. This page gives the rule, a test for which case you are in, and constructed answers for both cases. For the four questions in general, see our Australia GS statement guide.

Every Home Affairs page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. The Student visa (subclass 500) page showed "Last updated: 22/10/2026". The Genuine Student requirement page showed "Last updated: 24/09/2026". Recheck both pages before you lodge. How to add family members to an application is set out on the Home Affairs page; this page is about what you write.

Contents: The family rule · Which case are you? · Family stays home · Family comes with you · Checklist · Questions

The family rule and its five exemptions

The visa page lists five exemptions that let you include family. If none applies, the page says: "If you do not meet an exemption to include family, you should not lodge an application for your family members." If one applies, "your family members must apply at the same time and from the same location as you."

Exemptions 3 and 4 have extra conditions if you apply from inside Australia. Read them on the page if that is your case.

India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Ghana are not on the exemption 4 list. A married master's applicant from one of those countries falls outside all five exemptions unless they are Defence or DFAT sponsored, hold a fully funded foreign government scholarship, or hold a student visa that fits exemption 5. Without one of those, the family stays home.

Which case are you?

Run these three checks before you write a word.

1. Is your course a PhD? If yes, you are exempt under exemption 1. Our page for PhD applicants covers that case. A Master's by Research is not a PhD for this rule.
2. Are you sponsored by Defence or DFAT, fully funded by a foreign government scholarship, or a national of a listed Pacific Island or ASEAN country? If yes, you are likely exempt. Check the conditions on the page for where you will lodge.
3. Do you already hold a student visa and fit exemption 5? If yes, check the 2 October 2026 date condition.

If all three answers are no, write the family stays home version. If any answer is yes and you meet its conditions, write the family comes with you version.

Our view: if you are not exempt, say plainly in Question 1 that your partner and children will stay in your home country, and say who they live with and what they do. Do not leave it out and do not write that they will join you later. The basis: the GS page asks about "ties to family, community, employment and economic circumstances", and family that stays home is a tie. An answer that plans for them to come contradicts the rule you are applying under.

The countercase: if you are exempt, the reverse is true. Your family is part of the application, and your answers have to show you have planned and funded their stay. Writing as if they were staying home would make your answers inconsistent with the family members on your application.

If your family stays home

Question 1 is where your family goes. State facts, not feelings: who your partner is, what they do, where your children go to school, who will care for them, and what you own or rent. The GS page lists "the nature of the applicant's personal ties e.g. family, community and employment" as something the department considers.

If your partner's income is your financial evidence, Home Affairs accepts a parent's or partner's income of at least AUD87,856 "in the 12 months before you apply", as "official government documents such as tax assessments less than 12 months old." It says "We won't accept bank statements or direct evidence from an employer" for this option.

If your university uses its own GS form, it may ask about this directly. RMIT's form (issue date March 2024) asks whether you are married, with the date, and in Section 2: "In 200 words or less, tell us about your spouse and children (if any)" and "Do your spouse and children intend to accompany you to Australia". Answer it the same way you answer the visa form.

Constructed example: family stays home

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Karthik Iyer, 29, from Pune, India, has an offer for a Master of Data Science at an Australian university. He is self-funded. His wife is a school teacher. Their daughter is seven. He is not exempt, so they stay in India.

Question 1 (131 words). I am a data analyst at Pune Logistics Services (invented), where I have worked since July 2021. My manager, Ms R. Kulkarni, can confirm my role; her details are in my employment letter. I married Meera Iyer in December 2018. Meera is a mathematics teacher at a CBSE school in Pune, employed since 2016. Our daughter, aged seven, attends the same school. Meera and our daughter will stay in Pune while I study. They will live in our flat in Kothrud, which we own, with my parents, who live with us. Meera's salary covers our household costs in India. I will fund my tuition and living costs from savings and an education loan; the loan sanction letter and bank statements are attached. I have resigned from my role effective January 2027.

Question 4 (88 words). I have discussed the course length with my family. My wife will continue teaching and will care for our daughter, with help from my parents. We have planned two visits home during the long summer breaks, which I have included in my budget. I understand that family members cannot accompany me on this visa unless an exemption applies, and I do not meet one. I have no visa refusals for Australia or any other country. I travelled to Singapore in 2023 for a conference and returned on time.

Why it works: the family is described as a set of facts with names, jobs, dates and an address, and every financial claim points to a document. Question 4 states the rule in one sentence and does not plan around it.

If you are exempt and your family comes with you

Now your answers must show you have planned for them. The visa page sets the money. For 12 months: "students - AUD29,710", "partners coming with you - AUD10,394" and "a child coming with you - AUD4,449". For a school-age child, "add schooling costs of at least AUD13,502 per year for each child". If you use the income option instead, "If you bring family members, your parents' or partner's income must be at least AUD102,500 in the 12 months before you apply."

Our arithmetic: a student, a partner and one school-age child need at least AUD29,710 + AUD10,394 + AUD4,449 + AUD13,502 = AUD58,055 for 12 months of living and schooling costs, before course fees and travel. The page also says "You should not rely on work to support yourself or your family while in Australia."

Your partner is also assessed. Home Affairs says "all applicants must demonstrate that they satisfy the GS criterion or the GS dependent criterion." Ministerial Direction No. 106, which the GS page cites, says decision makers consider "whether the primary and secondary applicants have contrived their relationship for the purpose of obtaining a Subclass 500 (Student) visa." Give your marriage date and attach the certificate. The GS page does not publish separate questions for the dependent criterion, so we do not invent any here.

Constructed example: exempt applicant whose family comes

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Nguyen Thi Lan, 33, is a Vietnamese national with an offer for a Master of Public Health. Vietnam is on the exemption 4 list. Her husband and their eight-year-old son will apply with her.

Question 1 (116 words). I am a program officer at the Da Nang Provincial Health Office (invented), employed since 2017; my director, Dr H. Tran, can confirm my role and has approved two years of unpaid leave. I married Pham Van Duc in 2014; our marriage certificate is attached. Duc is a civil engineer. Our son is eight and in Year 3. As a Vietnamese national, I am including Duc and our son under the Pacific Island and ASEAN family exemption. They will apply with me, at the same time. We own our apartment in Da Nang and will rent it out while we are away; the lease agreement is attached. My parents and Duc's parents live in Da Nang.

Question 4 (111 words). Duc will take leave from his firm and care for our son while I study. He may look for part-time work, but our budget does not depend on it. Our savings cover my first-year fees and AUD58,055, the visa page's 12-month living costs for the three of us plus our son's schooling; the bank statements are attached. We have contacted a government primary school near the campus and attached its enrolment reply. We will return to Da Nang when I finish, where my leave letter confirms my post. None of us has had a visa refused or cancelled. Duc and I visited Australia in 2019 as tourists and left on time.

Why it works: the answers name the exemption the family relies on, the costs from the visa page, and the documents behind each claim. The spouse's plan is stated without making the budget depend on his work.

Checklist before you lodge

1. You know which case you are in, using the three checks above.
2. If your family stays home, Question 1 says so and names who they live with. Nothing in any answer plans for them to join you.
3. If your family comes, every member is on the same application, and Question 4 names the exemption, the costs and the evidence.
4. Your marriage date and children's ages match your documents.
5. Each answer is 150 words or fewer and in English, as the GS page requires.
6. Any university GS form says the same thing about your family as the visa form.

Questions about GS statements for married applicants

Can my spouse join me later on a student visa?

The visa page's rule is that you do not bring family "unless exempt". If no exemption covers you, do not write a plan for your spouse to join later into your answers. Check the family exemptions on the Home Affairs page before you plan anything.

Does being married count against me in the GS assessment?

The GS page does not say that marriage counts against an applicant. It asks about family ties, and a family at home is a tie. What matters is that your answers describe your family accurately and match your documents.

Do I mention my spouse if they are not coming?

Yes. The first GS question asks about "ties to family". Leaving out a spouse and children is leaving out the main tie.

Is my child's school fee included in the money I must show?

Only if the child comes with you. The page says to add schooling costs "If you are including any school-age children in your application". Choosing between a PhD and a research master's? The MPhil or Masters by Research proposal guide explains how the two degrees differ in scope.

Get a free review of your GS statement

Get a free Quick Review of your GS statement against GradPilot's Australia Genuine Student rubric. It reads each answer for your circumstances as an individual case, the course and provider, the course's value to your next step, the evidence named in your answers, and whether the answers stay consistent with each other. Paste one answer at a time with its question. If your university also wants a personal statement for admission, the master's motivation letter and personal statement rubric reads that one.

More GS statement guides:

• GS statement sample answers: constructed answers for single coursework applicants.
• GS statement for PhD applicants: the PhD family exemption and research evidence.
• GS statement for a second master's in Australia: the extra question for past student visa holders.
• All visa-document guides are in the visa and immigration essays hub, and graduate application guides in the graduate school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• Department of Home Affairs, Student visa (subclass 500) (last updated 22/10/2026): family rule and its 2 October 2026 start; five family exemptions and the exemption 4 country list; same-time lodgement; 2 October 2026 condition; living costs, schooling costs and income thresholds; not relying on work.
• Department of Home Affairs, Genuine Student requirement (last updated 24/09/2026): question 1 wording; personal ties; GS and GS dependent criterion; 150-word limit; English.
• Department of Home Affairs, Ministerial Direction No. 106 (commenced 23 March 2024): relationship factor for primary and secondary applicants.
• RMIT University, GS Statement of Purpose form (issue date March 2024): marriage and spouse questions, 200-word section.