The short answer
Can you still get a student visa with your spouse?
A student visa with spouse included was routine a few years ago. It is not now. The UK, Canada and Australia — the three countries most Pakistani couples plan around — have each cut back dependants since 2024, and the answer now depends on your course, not just your country.
The question has three parts. Can your husband or wife come at all? Can they work once they arrive? And does bringing them change how the officer reads your own application? This post takes each in turn.
Which countries allow dependants for students?
The rules as they stand in October 2026. Children generally follow the same rule as the spouse.
| Country | Can your spouse come? | Can they work? |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Only if you are on a PhD, another doctorate or a research-based higher degree, or a government-sponsored student on a course longer than six months | Yes, in most jobs |
| Canada | Yes, as a visitor, on any course. An open work permit only on a master's of 16 months or longer, a doctorate or certain professional degrees | Only with that open work permit, or a work permit of their own |
| Australia | From 2 October 2026, generally only for PhD students, DFAT- or Defence-sponsored students, certain foreign-government scholars and Pacific or ASEAN students | Yes, once you start your course; no hours limit for a doctorate |
| US | Yes, on an F-2 visa, with their own I-20 from your school | No; part-time study only |
| Germany | Yes, on a family reunion visa; basic German (A1) is usually required | Generally yes |
| Italy | Yes, once you hold a residence permit of at least a year, through a nulla osta, with income and housing requirements | Generally yes |
| Turkey | Yes: a student residence permit can sponsor a spouse and children | Only with a separate work permit |
| Malaysia | Only if you study at master's or PhD level | No |
| China | Yes, on an S1 visa for family of foreigners studying in China | No |
Spouse visa with a UK student visa: who still qualifies
The UK rule is the narrowest in practice. If your postgraduate course started on or after 1 January 2024, it must be a PhD, another doctorate or a research-based higher degree for your spouse to come. A one-year taught MSc does not qualify, however long or expensive it is. Government-sponsored students on courses longer than six months are the other exception.
GOV.UK sets this out on its Student visa family members page. Where a spouse does qualify, they can work in most jobs, and you must show extra money for them, held for the same 28 days as your own. The rest of the route is in our UK student visa guide.
Canada's spousal open work permit for students
Canada narrowed spousal work permits on 21 January 2025. Your spouse qualifies for an open work permit only if you are in a master's programme of at least 16 months, a doctoral programme, or one of the listed professional degrees — medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, education, engineering and a few others. IRCC lists them on its page on helping your spouse work in Canada.
Any other spouse can apply to come as a visitor, but cannot work unless they qualify for a work permit in their own right. You then show funds for both of you, on IRCC's family-size amounts. More in our Canada student visa guide.
Australia's October 2026 change
Australia changed its rules on 2 October 2026. Most new Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner or children, and nobody can add family members after the visa is granted. The exemptions are PhD students, students sponsored by DFAT or Defence, certain foreign-government scholarship holders and eligible Pacific and ASEAN students. Applications lodged before 2 October are decided under the old rules.
The Department of Home Affairs explains the change on its page on including family members in a Student visa. For most Pakistani coursework students, that means Australia is now a solo move. Our Australia student visa guide has the wider route.
The US, Europe and the rest
The US still lets any F-1 student bring a spouse and children on F-2 visas. Your school issues each of them an I-20 after you show extra funds for them. The catch is that an F-2 spouse cannot work at all and can study only part-time, so the whole family lives on your money. See our US student visa guide.
Germany lets a spouse join a student on a family reunion visa, usually with an A1 German certificate, applied for through the same Consular Services Portal. Italy tightened family reunion in 2024: you can sponsor your spouse only after two years of uninterrupted legal stay in Italy, by applying for a nulla osta there and meeting income and housing requirements — so on a two-year master’s, your spouse is unlikely to join you at all.
Turkey's student residence permit can sponsor a spouse and children, subject to income and insurance requirements. Malaysia allows dependants only for master's and PhD students, and they may not work. China issues the S1 visa to the spouse of a foreigner studying there for more than 180 days.
Documents for a dependant visa: the Pakistani paperwork
Every country wants proof that the marriage is legal and genuine. A marriage registered a few weeks before the application is not a problem in itself, but expect it to be looked at more closely. For Pakistanis the core file is much the same everywhere:
- NADRA computerised marriage registration certificate (MRC), issued once the nikah is registered with the union council
- The nikah nama, with a certified English translation
- Your spouse's passport and CNIC, and a family registration certificate (FRC) if asked
- Evidence the marriage is genuine and ongoing: photographs over time, messages, joint documents
- NADRA computerised birth certificates for any children
- Extra funds for each dependant, held to the same rules as your own
- For Germany, an A1 German certificate from a recognised provider
Does leaving your spouse behind help or hurt?
Officers everywhere are weighing whether you will go home. A spouse in Pakistan is one of the clearest ties you can show, and for a married student on a UK taught master's it is now the rule anyway.
Bringing your spouse is not a red flag either, where the rules allow it. What officers notice is a story that doesn't add up: a whole family relocating on funds that barely cover one person, a spouse with no plans of their own, or a course that looks chosen for the dependant visa rather than the degree.
Be consistent. If your spouse is staying in Pakistan, your forms and interview should say so and why. If they are coming, the funds and the plan should cover both of you.
Apply together or join later?
Where both are allowed, applying together is simpler: one set of funds, one timeline, one story. Joining later also works in the UK, Canada and the US, as long as your course still allows dependants and the funds are shown at that point.
Australia is now the exception. Since 2 October 2026 a family member cannot be added after the visa is granted, so if you qualify, your spouse must be in the original application. Italy runs the other way: your spouse can only follow after you have lived there legally for two years. In Germany the family visa goes through the same queue as everyone else's, so start early.
Frequently asked questions
This is general guidance
