Breach of student visa work condition 8105: cancellation risk in 2026
What happens if you work more than 48 hours a fortnight on an Australian student visa, and how condition 8105 can lead to cancellation.
If you have been told you worked more than 48 hours in a fortnight on a Student visa (subclass 500), the issue is not simply the number of hours — it is whether you have breached visa condition 8105, because Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 links a breach of a visa condition directly to the cancellation provisions of the Migration Act 1958. As at the September 2026 version of the Federal Register of Legislation page for the Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 8, condition 8105 sets a cap that reads as 48 hours a fortnight for Subclass 500 holders, with separate rules for work before your course starts and for research higher degrees.
What does condition 8105 actually require?
Condition 8105 does four things, and most disputes come down to which one applies:
- It stops you working in Australia before your course of study commences, unless a carve-out applies.
- It caps the hours you can work during any fortnight when your course of study or training is in session.
- It switches that cap off for certain course-required work and for research masters and doctoral students who have started their degree.
- It defines a "fortnight" in a fixed way, which determines how your hours are grouped.
The cap only bites during fortnights when the course is in session. Periods when your course is not in session are not covered by that hourly cap, which is why the same total number of shifts can be lawful in one part of the year and a breach in another.
Is the limit 40 hours or 48 hours in 2026?
Both numbers appear in the law, and the difference matters. Subclause 8105(1) states that the holder must not work in Australia for more than 40 hours a fortnight during any fortnight when the course is in session. Subclause 8105(2A) then says that if the visa held is a Subclass 500 (Student) visa, or a bridging visa granted on the basis of a valid application for a Subclass 500 visa, the clause applies as if the reference to 40 hours were instead a reference to 48 hours.
So for someone holding a Subclass 500 visa, or the related bridging visa described above, the operative figure is 48 hours. The 40-hour figure is the base text that 8105(2A) modifies.
How is a "fortnight" counted?
Subclause 8105(3) defines a fortnight as a period of 14 days commencing on a Monday. That is a fixed calendar cycle, not a rolling 14-day window measured backwards from any given day.
Assume a student works 26 hours in one Monday-to-Sunday fortnight and 30 hours in the next. Neither fortnight on its own exceeds 48 hours, even though 56 hours were worked across the four-week span. Reverse it — 50 hours in one fortnight and 10 in the next — and the first fortnight is a breach even though the four-week total is only four hours higher than in the previous example. The grouping is the point.
When does the limit not apply?
Subclause 8105(2) removes the cap in two situations:
- Work that is a requirement of the course. The work must have been specified as a requirement of the course when the course particulars were entered in the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). Work that is merely convenient, related to your field, or arranged through your faculty does not automatically qualify.
- Research higher degrees. For a student visa granted in relation to a masters degree by research or a doctoral degree, the cap does not apply if the holder has commenced that degree. Commencement is the trigger; being enrolled but not yet started is a different position.
Can you work before your course starts?
The starting rule is no. Subclause 8105(1A) says the holder must not engage in any work in Australia before the holder's course of study commences.
Subclause 8105(1B) provides an exception, but only if both parts are satisfied: at the time of applying for the visa, the holder held a substantive visa or a bridging visa (the previous visa), and the holder was permitted to work in Australia during the period that previous visa was in effect. If you held a previous visa that carried no work permission, the exception does not help you.
So what actually counts as a breach?
Putting the pieces together, a breach of condition 8105 arises where one of these is true:
- You worked in Australia before your course commenced and the 8105(1B) exception does not apply.
- You worked more than 48 hours in a Monday-start fortnight while your course was in session, on a Subclass 500 or related bridging visa.
- You relied on an exception — course-required work or a research degree — that did not actually apply to your circumstances, for example because the work was not recorded as a course requirement in CRICOS or because you had not yet commenced the research degree.
Hours are only half the picture. A student who works 20 hours before the course begins can be in breach, while a student who works 60 hours during a scheduled break may not be, because the cap is tied to session and the pre-course rule is an outright prohibition.
What does a breach mean for your visa?
The Regulations themselves do not say a breach cancels your visa automatically. The note to condition 8105 states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to this condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2, and that as to cancellation for breaches of conditions, see the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119.
In plain terms, condition 8105 defines the obligation, and the Migration Act 1958 carries the cancellation power and the process that follows. Cancellation is therefore a decision made under that Act, not a mechanical consequence written into the condition. What steps, response rights or review options apply in a given case are set out in the Act and related official material, and the current official text is the controlling reference.
This article explains how the rule works in general terms and is not advice about your own visa or a substitute for professional advice — cancellation outcomes turn on individual facts, so anyone actually facing one should get advice from a qualified practitioner and check the official provisions as currently published.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the work limit on a Student visa (subclass 500) in 2026?
Condition 8105 in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 caps work at 48 hours a fortnight for Subclass 500 holders while the course of study or training is in session. The base text says 40 hours, but subclause 8105(2A) replaces that reference with 48 hours for Subclass 500 visas and certain related bridging visas.
Is the limit 40 hours or 48 hours?
For a Subclass 500 visa, 48 hours. Subclause 8105(1) sets 40 hours as the general figure, and subclause 8105(2A) then modifies it to 48 hours where the visa held is a Subclass 500, or a bridging visa granted on the basis of a valid application for a Subclass 500.
How is a fortnight worked out?
Subclause 8105(3) defines a fortnight as a period of 14 days commencing on a Monday. Hours are counted within each fixed Monday-start fortnight rather than averaged across a longer period, so a high-work fortnight can be a breach even if the surrounding weeks were light.
Can I work before my course starts?
Generally no. Subclause 8105(1A) prohibits any work in Australia before the course of study commences. Subclause 8105(1B) provides an exception only where you held a substantive or bridging visa when you applied and were permitted to work while that previous visa was in effect.
Do masters by research and PhD students have a work limit?
Subclause 8105(2)(b) provides that the cap does not apply to a student visa granted in relation to a masters degree by research or doctoral degree if the holder has commenced that degree. The exception depends on commencement, not merely on enrolment.
Can I be cancelled for breaching condition 8105?
Breach of a visa condition is tied to cancellation by the Migration Act 1958, which the note to condition 8105 identifies as sections 41 and 116 to 119. The condition itself defines the obligation; the cancellation power and the process that follows sit in the Act, so the official text of that Act is the reference for what happens next.