The year Australian visas got noticeably more expensive

Australian visa charges go up on 1 July most years. Usually by a few per cent, usually without anyone noticing. The 2026 round was not that.

The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026, made on 30 June, reset the first instalment of the visa application charge across most subclasses and adjusted citizenship fees. The Administrative Review Tribunal lifted its fees on the same day. VETASSESS follows on 9 September. Below is what a few common applications cost now, using the prices the Department currently publishes.

Study and graduate

• Student visa (subclass 500): from AUD2,500
• Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), main work streams: from AUD5,750
• Temporary Graduate visa, Second Post-Study Work stream: from AUD2,265

The 485 is the one that stings. A graduate who arrived on a student visa, finished a degree and now wants a couple of years to find skilled work is facing a five-figure government bill across the two applications, before tuition, before health cover, before rent.

Work and employer sponsorship

• Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482): from AUD4,015
• Core Skills Income Threshold and Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold: AUD79,423, up 3.8 per cent on 1 July 2026
• Specialist Skills Income Threshold: AUD146,576

For employers the visa charge is only part of the picture. The Skilling Australians Fund levy sits on top of it, calculated per year of the nomination for a 482 and as a one-off for the permanent employer-sponsored visas, with the amount depending on business turnover. Worth pricing into the nomination decision rather than discovering at lodgement.

Family

• Partner visa (subclass 820/801), most onshore applicants: from AUD11,710
• Partner visa, applicants who held a Prospective Marriage visa: from AUD1,955

That second line is not a misprint. Someone who came to Australia on a subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa and then applies for a partner visa pays a small fraction of the standard charge. It is one of the few substantial concessions left anywhere in the family program, and it is regularly missed.

If a decision goes the wrong way

• Review of a migration decision at the Administrative Review Tribunal: AUD3,727
• Review of a protection decision: AUD2,293
• Standard application fee, and Guidance and Appeals Panel: AUD1,195
• Concessional fee, unchanged: AUD100

There is a timing trap in this one. The new tribunal fees apply to any application fee paid on or after 1 July 2026, even where the application itself was lodged before that date. Lodging early did not lock in the old fee. Paying early did. A 50 per cent reduction may be granted on financial hardship grounds, and tribunal fees are indexed to CPI every year, so this will happen again next July.

Skills assessment

From 9 September 2026, VETASSESS is lifting fees for professional skills assessments in line with the Consumer Price Index, along with priority processing, Skills Assessment Support, Chinese Qualification Verification, non-migration assessments and administration fees. Trade occupation assessments are not included. Applications received before 9 September are charged at the current rates.

If your documents are already assembled, this is one of the rare cases where a few days genuinely changes the number.

The rule underneath all of it

The charge that applies is the one in force on the day you lodge, not the day you started preparing. That sounds obvious right up until you are three weeks out from a deadline, waiting on one certified translation.

Which points at the only real advice in this article: budget the government charges separately from professional fees, and budget the version of them that will exist on the day you are actually ready, not the day you began.

This article is general information only and isn't migration advice. Government charges change with little notice, so always check current pricing before you lodge. For a costed plan for your own situation, book a consultation.