For a married Pakistani student, one question outranks every ranking table, every tuition fee and every post-study work scheme: can my family come with me?
In 2026 that question got much harder to answer. Australia closed the door on 2 October. The UK had already narrowed it in 2024. Canada tightened who qualifies for a spouse's work permit. Meanwhile Germany and Sweden carried on allowing what they always allowed — and almost nobody in Pakistan is pointing that out.
This guide compares eight destinations on the only three things that matter to a family: can they come, can your spouse work, and what does it cost to prove. Every rule below was checked at the source on 15 October 2026, and the sources are listed at the end.
- The quick answer — all eight countries in one table
- The question that really decides it: can your spouse work?
- Australia — closed, and closed properly
- United Kingdom — PhD students only
- Canada — depends on your course length
- Germany — the strongest option for families
- Sweden — open, slow, and expensive to prove
- New Zealand — open work rights, if your course qualifies
- USA — they can come, but cannot earn
- China — a separate visa, not a dependant visa
- How to choose — with family and without
The quick answer
If you read nothing else, read this table.
| Country | Can family come? | Can spouse work? | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Yes | Yes — full access | You must prove income and housing; spouse usually needs A1 German |
| Sweden | Yes | Not confirmed for students | SEK 4,440/month extra for a spouse; up to five months to decide |
| Canada | Course-dependent | Only if you qualify | Master's must be 16 months or longer; PhD and select professional degrees |
| New Zealand | Course-dependent | Yes — any job | Master's, PhD, or a Green List level 7–8 qualification |
| United Kingdom | Research degrees only | Yes, if eligible | Taught master's, MBA and undergraduate are excluded entirely |
| USA | Yes (F-2) | No — not at all | F-2 cannot work in any form, including freelance; part-time study only |
| China | Separate S1 visa | No | Family do not ride on your X1; they apply independently |
| Australia | No | N/A | Closed 2 October 2026; subsequent entrants barred with no exemptions |
The question that really decides it: can your spouse work?
A Pakistani family planning a move abroad usually builds the budget on an unspoken assumption: she will find something once we're settled. In 2027, whether that assumption is legal varies enormously.
| Country | Spouse's right to work |
|---|---|
| Germany | Unrestricted labour market access. Full-time, any job, freelance or self-employed, no separate work authorisation and no minimum salary. |
| United Kingdom | Dependants of eligible students may work. But only research postgraduates and government-sponsored students can bring dependants at all. |
| Canada | Spousal open work permit, but only where the student is in a master's of 16 months or more, a doctoral programme, or a select professional degree such as law or medicine. |
| New Zealand | Open work rights — any job, anywhere, for the same duration as the student's visa. May be a sole trader or own a business, but cannot employ other people. |
| Sweden | Not stated for families of enrolled students. It is stated for families of someone on a post-study job-seeking permit. See the caution below. |
| USA | None. An F-2 spouse cannot work in any form — employment, self-employment, contract, freelance or gig work are all prohibited. |
One thing we will not guess at
Whether an accompanying spouse may work in Sweden is not stated on the Swedish Migration Agency's page for families of enrolled students. We confirm it in writing for each case rather than repeating what other websites assume. If a consultancy tells you confidently that your wife can work full-time in Sweden on a dependant permit, ask them to show you the page that says so. A second income is the single biggest variable in a family budget — it is not something to be optimistic about.
Australia — closed, and closed properly
Not possible for mostThis is the change that reshaped 2027 planning for Pakistani families. From 2 October 2026, family members can no longer be included in a Student (subclass 500) application except in limited circumstances.
The exemptions are narrow: PhD students, those sponsored by DFAT or Defence, holders of certain foreign government scholarships, and eligible nationals of Pacific and ASEAN countries. A general Pakistani applicant qualifies for none of these.
And you cannot bring them later. Existing student visa holders can no longer add family members as subsequent entrants, and there are no exemptions to that at all. The old plan — go alone, settle in, apply for the family afterwards — no longer exists in Australia. Applications lodged before 2 October 2026 are assessed under the previous rules.
Australia remains an excellent destination for a single student. For a married one, it now asks you to spend two to four years apart. That is a decision about your marriage, not about a university.
Read our full breakdown of the 2 October 2026 Australian rules →
United Kingdom — PhD students only
Research degrees and sponsored studentsThe UK restricted student dependants in January 2024, and those rules remain fully in force for 2026–27. Only two groups may bring family:
- Postgraduate research students — PhD, doctorate, MPhil or a research-based master's, on courses of nine months or longer.
- Government-sponsored students on courses of six months or longer, regardless of course type.
If you are coming for a taught master's — MSc, MA, MBA, LLM — an undergraduate degree or a diploma, your family cannot join you. That excludes the overwhelming majority of Pakistani applicants to the UK, because the one-year taught master's is precisely what most people go for.
A dependant is a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, or a child under 18. Parents and siblings cannot come on this route.
The strategic read. If you are academically strong and family matters more than speed, a UK PhD is one of the few routes that keeps a British degree and your family in the same plan. It is a three-to-four year commitment rather than one, and funding is competitive — but it is open, where the MBA route is firmly shut.
Canada — depends entirely on your course
Course-level dependentCanada did not close the door; it narrowed the frame. A spousal open work permit is available only where the student is enrolled in:
- A master's programme of 16 months or longer at a public university or eligible institution
- A doctoral programme of any length
- A select professional degree — law, medicine and similar
Twelve-month accelerated master's degrees no longer qualify, and neither do college diplomas or most bachelor's degrees. The student must also be in active study at the time of the application, not in a final term or on a gap semester.
This is the clause that should change your course choice. Two master's programmes at the same Canadian university, one of 12 months and one of 16, look almost identical in a prospectus. For a married applicant they are completely different propositions — one brings your spouse with a work permit, the other does not. Check the programme length in months before you fall in love with a university.
Study in Canada from Pakistan →
Germany — the strongest option for families
Open, and the spouse can workIf your priority is keeping your family together and having two incomes, Germany is in a category of its own.
Spouses and children can join through family reunification (Familiennachzug), governed by §30 of the German Residence Act. And critically:
A spouse who joins through family reunification generally receives unrestricted access to the German labour market. They may work full time, in any job, freelance or start a business — with no separate work visa, no employer sponsorship step and no minimum salary. In practice that converts a single-income student household into a dual-income one.
The requirements are real, and they are where applications fail:
- Income sufficient to support the family, measured against Bürgergeld rates plus your rent. This is the hard part for a student living on a blocked account.
- Adequate housing — roughly 12 square metres per person. German authorities check this properly.
- Health insurance for every dependant.
- A1 German for the spouse before arrival in most cases, with exceptions for certain permit categories.
The spouse enters on a national long-stay D visa (Visum zum Ehegattennachzug), valid 90 days, then converts it to a residence permit at the local Ausländerbehörde.
Be honest about the income test. Germany's attraction is zero tuition, which means most Pakistani students arrive on a blocked account rather than a salary. Proving you can support a spouse and child on that basis is genuinely difficult at the start of a degree. Many families succeed by having the student arrive, find part-time work or a working-student contract, secure suitable housing, and then apply — which Germany permits.
Study in Germany from Pakistan →
Sweden — open, slow, and expensive to prove
Open to spouse and childrenSweden continues to allow spouses, registered partners, cohabiting partners and unmarried children under 18 to accompany a student. They may apply at the same time as you, or join you later — provided you have more than three months left on your permit when they apply.
The cost is the obstacle, and it is paid up front as proof of funds:
| Person | Per month, for the whole permit period |
|---|---|
| You, the student | SEK 10,656 |
| Spouse or cohabiting partner | + SEK 4,440 |
| Each child | + SEK 2,664 |
A two-year master's with a spouse and one child means showing roughly SEK 426,000 before anyone travels. Add permit fees of SEK 1,500 per adult and SEK 750 per child, none of it refundable.
Three further realities: family must apply from outside Sweden; their permit lasts exactly as long as yours; and three quarters of recent family cases took up to five months to decide. For an August 2027 start, that application cannot wait until spring.
Since 1 October 2026, a family member staying under a year and not registered in the Swedish Population Register also needs comprehensive health insurance.
Sweden's autumn 2027 timeline and the new 15-hour work cap →
New Zealand — open work rights, if your course qualifies
Open, and the partner can work freelyNew Zealand is the quiet answer most Pakistani families have not considered, and on partner work rights it sits alongside Germany at the top of this list.
Your partner applies for a Partner of a Student Work Visa. It is granted for the same duration as your student visa, costs from NZD $1,630, and 80% are decided within six weeks — dramatically faster than Sweden's five months.
And the work rights are genuinely open. Immigration New Zealand's own wording: your partner "can do any work, in any job, anywhere in New Zealand". They may also be a sole trader or own a business — though they cannot employ other people. No job offer is needed to apply.
But your course has to qualify
This is the condition that decides it. Your partner can only apply if you are studying towards one of:
- A level 9 or 10 qualification — master's or doctorate
- A level 7 or 8 qualification named on the Green List, as a requirement or registration qualification
- A level 7 or 8 qualification on the list eligible for a Post Study Work Visa
- A level 7 or 8 qualification on the Long Term Skill Shortage List — only if your study started on or before 7 September 2022
A master's degree is the clean route. Below that level, it depends entirely on whether your specific qualification appears on the Green List or the post-study work list — which is worth checking before you accept an offer, not after.
What about the children?
There is a sequencing detail here that catches families out. You cannot include dependent children in the partner's work visa application. Once your partner holds the work visa, they can then support the children's visas — so it is two steps, not one. A PhD student can also directly support dependent children's student visas, and those children attend New Zealand primary and secondary schools as domestic students.
The other requirements
- You and your partner must both be at least 18 and living together in a genuine and stable relationship.
- Your partner must have at least NZD $4,200 for living expenses.
- Evidence of the relationship must be from after you both turned 18 — anything earlier will not be assessed.
- You must complete form INZ 1146 as the supporting partner.
- Your partner may study for up to three months in any twelve-month period.
Why this matters for Pakistani applicants specifically. Relationship evidence is assessed seriously — shared finances, time living together, recognition by others. For a recently married couple the paperwork is thinner by definition, so start collecting that evidence early: joint accounts, the nikah nama, photographs over time, correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address.
USA — they can come, but they cannot earn
Allowed, but no work at allAn F-1 student's spouse and unmarried children under 21 may accompany them on F-2 status, either from the start or later.
F-2 dependants cannot work in the United States. At all. This is not limited to conventional employment — self-employment, contract services, freelance work, gig-economy activity and any business where the F-2 holder provides labour in return for value all carry the same prohibition. There is no application that converts an F-2 spouse into a work-authorised dependant without changing immigration category entirely.
Study is also restricted: an F-2 spouse may take part-time courses at an SEVP-certified school, but enrolling full-time or in a degree programme generally requires changing to F-1 status. Staying in full-time study on F-2 is a status violation even if the institution allows the enrolment.
So the honest maths: American tuition, American living costs, an American city, and one income. For most Pakistani families that is the hardest combination on this page.
China — a separate visa, not a dependant visa
Possible, via a different routeChina works differently from everywhere else here. Your family do not ride on your student visa. The X1 is issued to you for studies over 180 days; family members apply separately for an S1 visa (for stays over 180 days) or S2 for shorter visits, providing proof of relationship and financial capability.
For a Pakistani MBBS student — now reachable without MDCAT following the PMDC decision of 14 September 2026 — this is worth understanding early, because it is an extra application rather than a box on your own form.
MBBS in China from Pakistan, without MDCAT →
How to choose — with family and without
If you are married and your family is coming
- Germany if you can satisfy the income and housing test, or are willing to arrive first and apply once working. It is the only destination here where your spouse can work without restriction.
- Canada if you can get into a 16-month-plus master's, a PhD or a professional degree. Choose the programme length deliberately.
- New Zealand if you are going for a master's or PhD, or a qualification on the Green List. Open partner work rights and a six-week decision make it the fastest route on this page.
- Sweden if the family has the capital to prove the maintenance requirement up front and can start the application five months early.
- UK if you are academically strong enough for a funded PhD.
If you are going alone — or going first
The field opens up considerably, and a different logic applies: pick for post-study work rights and cost, not family rules.
- Australia returns to the table as a strong single-student destination.
- China becomes compelling for medicine, at a fraction of a Pakistani private medical college's fees.
- Germany remains the best value anywhere, with no tuition at public universities.
But check one thing before you go alone. "I'll go first and bring them later" is the most common plan we hear, and in Australia it is now impossible — subsequent entrants are barred with no exemptions. In Sweden it is allowed if you have more than three months left on your permit. In Germany it is a normal route. The answer differs by country, and in at least one of them, going alone closes the door permanently.
What this means for a February or September 2027 start
If your family is coming, the family application is the long pole in the tent, not your university application. Sweden takes up to five months. Germany needs housing secured before you can prove it. Canada needs the right programme chosen at the point of application, not afterwards.
Practically, that means a married applicant targeting autumn 2027 should be making decisions now, in October 2026 — not in spring.
Work out your real position before you choose a country
Which destinations are actually open to you depends on your degree level, your course length, your funds and your family size. We go through all four, tell you which doors are genuinely open, and put the funds figure in writing.
First counselling is free and covers the basics. A full one-to-one on your own profile is PKR 1,000 with a senior counsellor or PKR 5,000 for 45 minutes with our QEAC-certified CEO — and if you go on to apply through us, that fee is deducted from your service charges.
Sources
Australia — Department of Home Affairs reforms commencing 2 October 2026, as reported by ICEF Monitor and Australian migration practitioners.
United Kingdom — Home Office student dependant rules in force since January 2024.
Canada — IRCC spousal open work permit eligibility criteria, 2026.
Germany — §30 Aufenthaltsgesetz (family reunification), German missions and Ausländerbehörde guidance.
New Zealand — Immigration New Zealand, Partner of a Student Work Visa.
Sweden — Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), family members of students; and universityadmissions.se autumn semester dates.
USA — F-2 dependant regulations as published by SEVP-certified institutions.
China — Chinese mission guidance on X1 and S1/S2 visa categories.
All rules verified on 15 October 2026. Immigration requirements change frequently and without notice — confirm current rules with the relevant mission before acting. HS Global Consultants is a QEAC-certified education consultancy (No. L462) and does not provide immigration or legal advice.