diff --git a/dvc/dependency/repo.py b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
index 3e1878f9c..3bcfd3e65 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/repo.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ from dvc.external_repo import cached_clone
 from dvc.external_repo import external_repo
 from dvc.exceptions import NotDvcRepoError
 from dvc.exceptions import OutputNotFoundError
+from dvc.exceptions import NoOutputInExternalRepoError
 from dvc.exceptions import PathMissingError
 from dvc.utils.fs import fs_copy
+from dvc.path_info import PathInfo
 from dvc.scm import SCM
 
 
@@ -46,14 +48,31 @@ class DependencyREPO(DependencyLOCAL):
         with external_repo(**merge(self.def_repo, overrides)) as repo:
             yield repo
 
-    def status(self):
-        with self._make_repo() as repo:
-            current = repo.find_out_by_relpath(self.def_path).info
+    def _get_checksum(self, updated=False):
+        rev_lock = None
+        if not updated:
+            rev_lock = self.def_repo.get(self.PARAM_REV_LOCK)
 
-        with self._make_repo(rev_lock=None) as repo:
-            updated = repo.find_out_by_relpath(self.def_path).info
+        try:
+            with self._make_repo(rev_lock=rev_lock) as repo:
+                return repo.find_out_by_relpath(self.def_path).info["md5"]
+        except (NotDvcRepoError, NoOutputInExternalRepoError):
+            # Fall through and clone
+            pass
+
+        repo_path = cached_clone(
+            self.def_repo[self.PARAM_URL],
+            rev=rev_lock or self.def_repo.get(self.PARAM_REV),
+        )
+        path = PathInfo(os.path.join(repo_path, self.def_path))
+
+        return self.repo.cache.local.get_checksum(path)
+
+    def status(self):
+        current_checksum = self._get_checksum(updated=False)
+        updated_checksum = self._get_checksum(updated=True)
 
-        if current != updated:
+        if current_checksum != updated_checksum:
             return {str(self): "update available"}
 
         return {}
diff --git a/dvc/repo/status.py b/dvc/repo/status.py
index 2e9a7a948..3528e6243 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/status.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/status.py
@@ -10,16 +10,11 @@ from . import locked
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def _local_status(self, targets=None, with_deps=False):
+def _joint_status(stages):
     status = {}
 
-    if targets:
-        stages = cat(self.collect(t, with_deps=with_deps) for t in targets)
-    else:
-        stages = self.collect(None, with_deps=with_deps)
-
     for stage in stages:
-        if stage.locked:
+        if stage.locked and not stage.is_repo_import:
             logger.warning(
                 "DVC-file '{path}' is locked. Its dependencies are"
                 " not going to be shown in the status output.".format(
@@ -27,11 +22,20 @@ def _local_status(self, targets=None, with_deps=False):
                 )
             )
 
-        status.update(stage.status())
+        status.update(stage.status(check_updates=True))
 
     return status
 
 
+def _local_status(self, targets=None, with_deps=False):
+    if targets:
+        stages = cat(self.collect(t, with_deps=with_deps) for t in targets)
+    else:
+        stages = self.collect(None, with_deps=with_deps)
+
+    return _joint_status(stages)
+
+
 def _cloud_status(
     self,
     targets=None,
diff --git a/dvc/stage.py b/dvc/stage.py
index 449cb261f..28076bad6 100644
--- a/dvc/stage.py
+++ b/dvc/stage.py
@@ -1006,10 +1006,12 @@ class Stage(object):
         return ret
 
     @rwlocked(read=["deps", "outs"])
-    def status(self):
+    def status(self, check_updates=False):
         ret = []
 
-        if not self.locked:
+        show_import = self.is_repo_import and check_updates
+
+        if not self.locked or show_import:
             deps_status = self._status(self.deps)
             if deps_status:
                 ret.append({"changed deps": deps_status})

status: implement support for import-ed files
See https://github.com/iterative/dvc/pull/2889#discussion_r357950906 for context
diff --git a/tests/func/test_status.py b/tests/func/test_status.py
index e4de03852..8b8d3d2ba 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_status.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_status.py
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 import os
+import shutil
 
 from mock import patch
 
+from dvc.repo import Repo
 from dvc.main import main
+from dvc.compat import fspath
+from dvc.external_repo import clean_repos
 from tests.basic_env import TestDvc
 
 
@@ -23,3 +27,72 @@ class TestStatus(TestDvc):
     def test_implied_cloud(self, mock_status):
         main(["status", "--remote", "something"])
         mock_status.assert_called()
+
+
+def test_status_non_dvc_repo_import(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir):
+    with erepo_dir.branch("branch", new=True), erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove([".dvc"], r=True)
+        shutil.rmtree(".dvc")
+        erepo_dir.scm_gen("file", "first version")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add(["file"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("first version")
+
+    dvc.imp(fspath(erepo_dir), "file", "file", rev="branch")
+
+    status = dvc.status(["file.dvc"])
+
+    assert status == {}
+
+    # Caching in external repos doesn't see upstream updates within single
+    # cli call, so we need to clean the caches to see the changes.
+    clean_repos()
+
+    with erepo_dir.branch("branch", new=False), erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm_gen("file", "second_version", commit="update file")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add(["file"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("first version")
+
+    status, = dvc.status(["file.dvc"])["file.dvc"]
+
+    assert status == {
+        "changed deps": {
+            "file ({})".format(fspath(erepo_dir)): "update available"
+        }
+    }
+
+
+def test_status_before_and_after_dvc_init(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir):
+    with erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove([".dvc"], r=True)
+        shutil.rmtree(".dvc")
+        erepo_dir.scm_gen("file", "first version")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add(["file"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("first version")
+        old_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    dvc.imp(fspath(erepo_dir), "file", "file")
+
+    assert dvc.status(["file.dvc"]) == {}
+
+    with erepo_dir.chdir():
+        Repo.init()
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove(["file"])
+        os.remove("file")
+        erepo_dir.dvc_gen("file", "second version")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add([".dvc", "file.dvc"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("version with dvc")
+        new_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    assert old_rev != new_rev
+
+    # Caching in external repos doesn't see upstream updates within single
+    # cli call, so we need to clean the caches to see the changes.
+    clean_repos()
+
+    status, = dvc.status(["file.dvc"])["file.dvc"]
+
+    assert status == {
+        "changed deps": {
+            "file ({})".format(fspath(erepo_dir)): "update available"
+        }
+    }
diff --git a/tests/func/test_update.py b/tests/func/test_update.py
index 5afbac048..6f483fff0 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_update.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_update.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import pytest
+import os
+import shutil
 
+from dvc.repo import Repo
 from dvc.stage import Stage
 from dvc.compat import fspath
 from dvc.external_repo import clean_repos
@@ -36,8 +39,64 @@ def test_update_import(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir, cached):
     # cli call, so we need to clean the caches to see the changes.
     clean_repos()
 
+    status, = dvc.status([stage.path])["version.dvc"]
+    changed_dep, = list(status["changed deps"].items())
+    assert changed_dep[0].startswith("version ")
+    assert changed_dep[1] == "update available"
+
+    dvc.update(stage.path)
+
     assert dvc.status([stage.path]) == {}
+
+    assert imported.is_file()
+    assert imported.read_text() == "updated"
+
+    stage = Stage.load(dvc, stage.path)
+    assert stage.deps[0].def_repo == {
+        "url": fspath(erepo_dir),
+        "rev": "branch",
+        "rev_lock": new_rev,
+    }
+
+
+def test_update_import_after_remote_updates_to_dvc(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir):
+    old_rev = None
+    with erepo_dir.branch("branch", new=True), erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm_gen("version", "branch", commit="add version file")
+        old_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    stage = dvc.imp(fspath(erepo_dir), "version", "version", rev="branch")
+
+    imported = tmp_dir / "version"
+    assert imported.is_file()
+    assert imported.read_text() == "branch"
+    assert stage.deps[0].def_repo == {
+        "url": fspath(erepo_dir),
+        "rev": "branch",
+        "rev_lock": old_rev,
+    }
+
+    new_rev = None
+    with erepo_dir.branch("branch", new=False), erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove("version")
+        erepo_dir.dvc_gen("version", "updated")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add(["version", "version.dvc"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("upgrade to DVC tracking")
+        new_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    assert old_rev != new_rev
+
+    # Caching in external repos doesn't see upstream updates within single
+    # cli call, so we need to clean the caches to see the changes.
+    clean_repos()
+
+    status, = dvc.status([stage.path])["version.dvc"]
+    changed_dep, = list(status["changed deps"].items())
+    assert changed_dep[0].startswith("version ")
+    assert changed_dep[1] == "update available"
+
     dvc.update(stage.path)
+
     assert dvc.status([stage.path]) == {}
 
     assert imported.is_file()
@@ -51,6 +110,48 @@ def test_update_import(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir, cached):
     }
 
 
+def test_update_before_and_after_dvc_init(tmp_dir, dvc, erepo_dir):
+    with erepo_dir.chdir():
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove([".dvc"], r=True)
+        shutil.rmtree(".dvc")
+        erepo_dir.scm_gen("file", "first version")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add(["file"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("first version")
+        old_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    stage = dvc.imp(fspath(erepo_dir), "file", "file")
+
+    with erepo_dir.chdir():
+        Repo.init()
+        erepo_dir.scm.repo.index.remove(["file"])
+        os.remove("file")
+        erepo_dir.dvc_gen("file", "second version")
+        erepo_dir.scm.add([".dvc", "file.dvc"])
+        erepo_dir.scm.commit("version with dvc")
+        new_rev = erepo_dir.scm.get_rev()
+
+    assert old_rev != new_rev
+
+    # Caching in external repos doesn't see upstream updates within single
+    # cli call, so we need to clean the caches to see the changes.
+    clean_repos()
+
+    assert dvc.status([stage.path]) == {
+        "file.dvc": [
+            {
+                "changed deps": {
+                    "file ({})".format(fspath(erepo_dir)): "update available"
+                }
+            }
+        ]
+    }
+
+    dvc.update(stage.path)
+
+    assert (tmp_dir / "file").read_text() == "second version"
+    assert dvc.status([stage.path]) == {}
+
+
 def test_update_import_url(tmp_dir, dvc, tmp_path_factory):
     import_src = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("import_url_source")
     src = import_src / "file"

pip install -e .[all]
parse_log_pytest
pytest
pytest pytest-timeout pytest-cov pytest-xdist pytest-mock flaky mock xmltodict awscli google-compute-engine Pygments collective.checkdocs flake8 psutil flake8-docstrings pydocstyle jaraco.windows mock-ssh-server moto rangehttpserver
apt-get update apt-get install -y gcc
3.7
pytest --no-header -rA --tb=line --color=no -p no:cacheprovider -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
aliyun-python-sdk-core==2.16.0
aliyun-python-sdk-core-v3==2.13.33
aliyun-python-sdk-kms==2.16.5
appdirs==1.4.4
atpublic==3.1.2
attrs @ file:///croot/attrs_1668696182826/work
autocommand==2.2.2
awscli==1.31.13
azure-common==1.1.28
azure-storage-blob==2.1.0
azure-storage-common==2.1.0
bcrypt==4.2.1
boto==2.49.0
boto3==1.33.13
botocore==1.33.13
cachetools==5.5.2
certifi @ file:///croot/certifi_1671487769961/work/certifi
cffi==1.15.1
charset-normalizer==3.4.1
collective.checkdocs==0.2
colorama==0.4.4
configobj==5.0.9
configparser==5.3.0
coverage==7.2.7
crcmod==1.7
cryptography==44.0.2
decorator==5.1.1
distro==1.9.0
docutils==0.16
-e git+https://github.com/iterative/dvc.git@0be0931fcda067f79233a6e13c2b34c5a7fc62f7#egg=dvc
execnet==2.0.2
flake8==5.0.4
flake8-docstrings==1.7.0
flaky==3.8.1
flatten-dict==0.4.2
flit_core @ file:///opt/conda/conda-bld/flit-core_1644941570762/work/source/flit_core
flufl.lock==7.1.1
funcy==2.0
future==1.0.0
gitdb==4.0.12
gitdb2==4.0.2
GitPython==3.1.44
google-api-core==1.34.1
google-api-python-client==2.166.0
google-auth==2.38.0
google-auth-httplib2==0.2.0
google-cloud-core==1.5.0
google-cloud-storage==1.19.0
google-compute-engine==2.8.13
google-crc32c==1.5.0
google-resumable-media==2.7.2
googleapis-common-protos==1.69.2
grandalf==0.6
httplib2==0.22.0
humanize==4.6.0
idna==3.10
importlib-metadata==4.2.0
importlib-resources==5.12.0
inflect==3.0.2
iniconfig @ file:///home/linux1/recipes/ci/iniconfig_1610983019677/work
jaraco.classes==3.2.3
jaraco.collections==4.2.0
jaraco.context==4.3.0
jaraco.functools==3.7.0
jaraco.structures==2.1.0
jaraco.text==3.11.1
jaraco.ui==2.3.0
jaraco.windows==5.7.0
Jinja2==3.1.6
jmespath==0.10.0
jsonpath-ng==1.7.0
MarkupSafe==2.1.5
mccabe==0.7.0
mock==5.2.0
mock-ssh-server==0.9.1
more-itertools==9.1.0
moto==4.2.14
nanotime==0.5.2
networkx==2.3
numpy==1.21.6
oauth2client==4.1.3
oss2==2.6.1
packaging @ file:///croot/packaging_1671697413597/work
paramiko==3.5.1
path==16.6.0
pathspec==0.11.2
pluggy @ file:///tmp/build/80754af9/pluggy_1648042572264/work
ply==3.11
protobuf==3.20.3
psutil==7.0.0
py @ file:///opt/conda/conda-bld/py_1644396412707/work
pyarrow==0.15.1
pyasn1==0.5.1
pyasn1-modules==0.3.0
pycodestyle==2.9.1
pycparser==2.21
pycryptodome==3.22.0
pydantic==1.10.21
pydocstyle==6.3.0
PyDrive==1.3.1
pyflakes==2.5.0
Pygments==2.17.2
PyNaCl==1.5.0
pyparsing==3.1.4
pytest==7.1.2
pytest-cov==4.1.0
pytest-mock==3.11.1
pytest-timeout==2.3.1
pytest-xdist==3.5.0
python-dateutil==2.8.0
PyYAML==5.1.2
rangehttpserver==1.4.0
requests==2.31.0
responses==0.23.3
rsa==4.7.2
ruamel.yaml==0.18.10
ruamel.yaml.clib==0.2.8
s3transfer==0.8.2
shortuuid==1.0.13
six==1.17.0
smmap==5.0.2
snowballstemmer==2.2.0
texttable==1.7.0
tomli @ file:///opt/conda/conda-bld/tomli_1657175507142/work
tqdm==4.67.1
treelib==1.7.1
types-PyYAML==6.0.12.12
typing_extensions @ file:///croot/typing_extensions_1669924550328/work
uritemplate==4.1.1
urllib3==1.26.20
voluptuous==0.14.1
Werkzeug==2.2.3
xmltodict==0.14.2
zc.lockfile==3.0.post1
zipp @ file:///croot/zipp_1672387121353/work

name: dvc
channels:
  - defaults
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=main
  - _openmp_mutex=5.1=1_gnu
  - attrs=22.1.0=py37h06a4308_0
  - ca-certificates=2025.2.25=h06a4308_0
  - certifi=2022.12.7=py37h06a4308_0
  - flit-core=3.6.0=pyhd3eb1b0_0
  - importlib_metadata=4.11.3=hd3eb1b0_0
  - iniconfig=1.1.1=pyhd3eb1b0_0
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h12ee557_0
  - libffi=3.4.4=h6a678d5_1
  - libgcc-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libgomp=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libstdcxx-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - ncurses=6.4=h6a678d5_0
  - openssl=1.1.1w=h7f8727e_0
  - packaging=22.0=py37h06a4308_0
  - pip=22.3.1=py37h06a4308_0
  - pluggy=1.0.0=py37h06a4308_1
  - py=1.11.0=pyhd3eb1b0_0
  - pytest=7.1.2=py37h06a4308_0
  - python=3.7.16=h7a1cb2a_0
  - readline=8.2=h5eee18b_0
  - setuptools=65.6.3=py37h06a4308_0
  - sqlite=3.45.3=h5eee18b_0
  - tk=8.6.14=h39e8969_0
  - tomli=2.0.1=py37h06a4308_0
  - typing_extensions=4.4.0=py37h06a4308_0
  - wheel=0.38.4=py37h06a4308_0
  - xz=5.6.4=h5eee18b_1
  - zipp=3.11.0=py37h06a4308_0
  - zlib=1.2.13=h5eee18b_1
  - pip:
      - aliyun-python-sdk-core==2.16.0
      - aliyun-python-sdk-core-v3==2.13.33
      - aliyun-python-sdk-kms==2.16.5
      - appdirs==1.4.4
      - atpublic==3.1.2
      - autocommand==2.2.2
      - awscli==1.31.13
      - azure-common==1.1.28
      - azure-storage-blob==2.1.0
      - azure-storage-common==2.1.0
      - bcrypt==4.2.1
      - boto==2.49.0
      - boto3==1.33.13
      - botocore==1.33.13
      - cachetools==5.5.2
      - cffi==1.15.1
      - charset-normalizer==3.4.1
      - collective-checkdocs==0.2
      - colorama==0.4.4
      - configobj==5.0.9
      - configparser==5.3.0
      - coverage==7.2.7
      - crcmod==1.7
      - cryptography==44.0.2
      - decorator==5.1.1
      - distro==1.9.0
      - docutils==0.16
      - dvc==0.81.3+0be093
      - execnet==2.0.2
      - flake8==5.0.4
      - flake8-docstrings==1.7.0
      - flaky==3.8.1
      - flatten-dict==0.4.2
      - flufl-lock==7.1.1
      - funcy==2.0
      - future==1.0.0
      - gitdb==4.0.12
      - gitdb2==4.0.2
      - gitpython==3.1.44
      - google-api-core==1.34.1
      - google-api-python-client==2.166.0
      - google-auth==2.38.0
      - google-auth-httplib2==0.2.0
      - google-cloud-core==1.5.0
      - google-cloud-storage==1.19.0
      - google-compute-engine==2.8.13
      - google-crc32c==1.5.0
      - google-resumable-media==2.7.2
      - googleapis-common-protos==1.69.2
      - grandalf==0.6
      - httplib2==0.22.0
      - humanize==4.6.0
      - idna==3.10
      - importlib-metadata==4.2.0
      - importlib-resources==5.12.0
      - inflect==3.0.2
      - jaraco-classes==3.2.3
      - jaraco-collections==4.2.0
      - jaraco-context==4.3.0
      - jaraco-functools==3.7.0
      - jaraco-structures==2.1.0
      - jaraco-text==3.11.1
      - jaraco-ui==2.3.0
      - jaraco-windows==5.7.0
      - jinja2==3.1.6
      - jmespath==0.10.0
      - jsonpath-ng==1.7.0
      - markupsafe==2.1.5
      - mccabe==0.7.0
      - mock==5.2.0
      - mock-ssh-server==0.9.1
      - more-itertools==9.1.0
      - moto==4.2.14
      - nanotime==0.5.2
      - networkx==2.3
      - numpy==1.21.6
      - oauth2client==4.1.3
      - oss2==2.6.1
      - paramiko==3.5.1
      - path==16.6.0
      - pathspec==0.11.2
      - ply==3.11
      - protobuf==3.20.3
      - psutil==7.0.0
      - pyarrow==0.15.1
      - pyasn1==0.5.1
      - pyasn1-modules==0.3.0
      - pycodestyle==2.9.1
      - pycparser==2.21
      - pycryptodome==3.22.0
      - pydantic==1.10.21
      - pydocstyle==6.3.0
      - pydrive==1.3.1
      - pyflakes==2.5.0
      - pygments==2.17.2
      - pynacl==1.5.0
      - pyparsing==3.1.4
      - pytest-cov==4.1.0
      - pytest-mock==3.11.1
      - pytest-timeout==2.3.1
      - pytest-xdist==3.5.0
      - python-dateutil==2.8.0
      - pyyaml==5.1.2
      - rangehttpserver==1.4.0
      - requests==2.31.0
      - responses==0.23.3
      - rsa==4.7.2
      - ruamel-yaml==0.18.10
      - ruamel-yaml-clib==0.2.8
      - s3transfer==0.8.2
      - shortuuid==1.0.13
      - six==1.17.0
      - smmap==5.0.2
      - snowballstemmer==2.2.0
      - texttable==1.7.0
      - tqdm==4.67.1
      - treelib==1.7.1
      - types-pyyaml==6.0.12.12
      - uritemplate==4.1.1
      - urllib3==1.26.20
      - voluptuous==0.14.1
      - werkzeug==2.2.3
      - xmltodict==0.14.2
      - zc-lockfile==3.0.post1
prefix: /opt/conda/envs/dvc

tests/func/test_status.py::test_status_non_dvc_repo_import tests/func/test_status.py::test_status_before_and_after_dvc_init tests/func/test_update.py::test_update_import[True] tests/func/test_update.py::test_update_import[False] tests/func/test_update.py::test_update_import_after_remote_updates_to_dvc tests/func/test_update.py::test_update_before_and_after_dvc_init
tests/func/test_status.py::TestStatus::test_implied_cloud tests/func/test_status.py::TestStatus::test_quiet tests/func/test_update.py::test_update_import_url
dvc/repo/status.py dvc/stage.py dvc/dependency/repo.py
dvc/repo/status.py dvc/stage.py dvc/dependency/repo.py