Checked against each country’s own immigration authority, 17 September 2026. Sources listed below.
EligibilityA PhD or other research-based postgraduate course of 9 months or longer, or a fully government-sponsored course of 6 months or longer. A standard master’s or undergraduate student cannot bring family.
Financial proof£845 a month per dependant for a London course, £680 outside London, held for 28 days.
Spouse workAllowed, with no hours cap, other than professional sport or coaching.
Children at schoolYes, the same access as any child in the UK, with no extra fee.
Fees£558 per person, plus a discounted £776 a year health surcharge for each dependant.
EligibilityA spouse and children can generally accompany a study permit holder, but the spouse’s own open work permit is limited to doctoral programmes, master’s degrees of 16 months or longer, or a short list of professional degrees.
Financial proofAbout CAD 29,192 a year for a two-person family, CAD 35,888 for three, outside Quebec.
Spouse workOpen work permit only if the course qualifies, and not while the student is in their final academic term.
Children at schoolYes, preschool through secondary, without a permit of their own.
FeesCAD 155 for the work permit plus a CAD 100 open work permit holder fee.
Proposed, not yet in force: on 17 September 2026 the Home Affairs Minister outlined plans to stop most international students bringing a partner or children at all, as part of a wider cut to migration numbers. No legislation or start date is confirmed yet, so the rules below are what currently applies. Students from ASEAN and Pacific nations, and those doing a PhD, would be exempt from the ban if it takes effect.
EligibilityA partner and unmarried children under 18 can join any subclass 500 student, as long as they are declared in the application.
Financial proofAUD 10,394 a year for a partner, AUD 4,449 a year per child, plus an AUD 13,502 school-cost benchmark.
Spouse workCapped at 48 hours a fortnight while the course is in session, unlimited if the student is doing a PhD or a master’s by research.
Children at schoolYes, the school-cost benchmark above is built into the financial test.
FeesBase visa from AUD 2,500, plus an additional charge for each family member.
EligibilityA partner and children are not included on the student’s own visa. They apply for their own, and what they get depends on the student’s course.
Partner work rightsAn open work visa only if the student studies a master’s, a PhD, or a bachelor’s on the Green List or Post-Study-Work list.
Financial proofNZD 4,200 for the partner; NZD 17,000 a year, or NZD 1,417 a month, for a dependent child.
Children at schoolA Dependent Child Student Visa only applies if the parent is on an exchange scheme, a PhD, or an NZ scholarship.
FeesPartner visa from NZD 1,630, child visa from NZD 750.
EligibilityOrdinary students, undergraduate, master’s and language courses, are explicitly listed as ineligible to sponsor family. Only a PhD student, or a few named scholarship schemes, can.
Spouse & childrenGet Stamp 2A, a study-only permission with no confirmed work rights.
Financial proofNo euro figure specific to a PhD-student sponsor is published.
Fees€60 for a single-entry visa, €100 for multiple-entry.
ProcessingUp to 12 months, applications handled in date order.
Source: irishimmigration.ie, checked 17 September 2026.Flights to Ireland
EligibilityOnly a Master’s or PhD Student Pass holder can bring a spouse, children or parents. An undergraduate can only do this while holding one of 17 specified Gulf and Levant nationalities.
Spouse workExplicitly barred from working, running a business, or political activity.
Financial proofNo figure is published on an official source.
Children at schoolAn under-18 dependant can attend school on the Dependant Pass; at 18 they must convert to their own Student Pass.
FeesDependant Pass processing from RM250, plus a RM90 sticker, from a 2021 schedule that may be dated.
All seven still let a student bring family, but every one narrows it. The gate is a course level, a capped work week, or a total ban on the spouse working. Ireland and Malaysia, both rising study picks, are just as strict as the bigger four.
Where studying with family is genuinely easier
Checked against each country’s own immigration authority, 17 September 2026. Sources listed below.
EligibilityAny student residence permit holder can sponsor a spouse or registered partner and children, if the marriage predates the permit or the student has already held it two years, and the stay is expected to run over a year.
Financial proofNo fixed figure. A case-by-case test that the family can support itself without public funds.
Spouse workUnrestricted, employed or self-employed, once the permit is granted.
Children at schoolYes, enrolment is required and straightforward.
Fees€100 for an adult’s first permit, €50 for a child’s.
Source: auswaertiges-amt.de and frankfurt.de, checked 17 September 2026.Flights to Germany
EligibilityAny residence permit for studies lets a spouse and children join, though the family’s own application is only decided once the student’s is granted.
Financial proofA sliding scale by municipality and family size, about €1,820 a month for one adult and one child in Helsinki.
Spouse workUnrestricted right to work, run a business, or study.
Children at schoolYes, free of charge, once the family is registered.
Worth knowingA real backlog of family-tie applications can delay arrival regardless of eligibility.
EligibilityAny regular study residence permit holder can sponsor a partner and children. Only au pair, working holiday, seasonal and similar short-term permits are excluded.
Financial proofThe general partner-income test, about €2,337 a month gross. No separate lower figure is published for a student sponsor.
Spouse workNot allowed to work while sponsored on a student’s permit.
Children at schoolYes, compulsory from age 5, regardless of residence status.
Fees€254 for the partner’s permit, €85 for a child’s.
Only three of the ten countries checked came back genuinely open. Germany and Finland let a spouse work with no restriction at all. The Netherlands welcomes the family just as broadly, but still stops the spouse working.
Questions
Which countries let international students bring their family?
Most of the ten countries checked allow it in some form, but the rules vary sharply. Germany and Finland are the most open, letting almost any student sponsor a spouse and children. The UK, Ireland and Malaysia mostly limit it to PhD or scholarship students, while Canada, Australia and New Zealand tie the spouse’s work rights to the course level.
Can my spouse work while I study abroad?
It depends on the country, not just on whether family can join at all. Germany, Finland and the UK let an eligible spouse work with no cap. Australia caps the hours, Canada and New Zealand gate it by course, and the US, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malaysia do not let the spouse work at all.
Do my children need their own visa to go to school abroad?
In most countries, no. Dependant children in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands can attend local school without a separate student visa. New Zealand and Malaysia attach conditions of their own, covered in the country panels above.
Which is the most family-friendly country to study in?
Based on the official rules alone, Germany and Finland stand out: broad eligibility and a spouse who can work without restriction. The Netherlands welcomes the family just as widely but still bars the spouse from working.
How often do these rules change?
Often enough to check before you apply. The UK tightened its rule in January 2024, Canada in January 2025, New Zealand in June 2024, and Ireland reissued its entire family policy in June 2026. Always confirm the current rule with the country’s own immigration authority before you apply.
Every figure above comes from that country’s own immigration authority, never a visa agent or law firm, checked on 17 September 2026.
Some figures could not be confirmed on an official source and are stated as such rather than estimated: the US and Malaysia’s financial-proof amount for dependants, Canada’s processing time for a spousal open work permit, and a euro figure specific to a PhD-student sponsor in Ireland.
Malaysia’s dependant fee schedule is the most recent one published that could be found, dated 2021, and may have changed since.
This is a comparison of published rules, not immigration advice, and does not cover every route into a country, such as a working holiday visa or a separate skilled-worker pathway for a spouse.
Wego does not process visas. The button under each country opens a live Wego flight search; it does not book or verify any visa.
Australia’s proposed dependant ban is reported from news coverage of the minister’s own National Press Club address, not a government press release or transcript, which was not published at the time of writing. It will be re-checked once one is available.
Disclaimer: We’ve worked hard to make sure the information in this article is as accurate and up to date as possible at the time of publishing. Travel details such as prices, schedules, visa rules, and entry requirements can change at short notice, so it remains your responsibility to verify the current details with official sources before you book or travel. Wego accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience arising from the use of this content.
