What Should You Do After Australia’s 1 July Visa Fee Increase? A Practical Guide for Applicants

Australia’s visa fees increased by approximately 25 percent on 1 July 2026 – and the window to lodge at the old rates has closed. If you are an international student, a graduate planning to stay in Australia, a skilled worker, a family separated by a partner visa timeline, or an employer sponsoring overseas staff, this is not background noise. The new fees are in effect right now, and they apply to every application lodged from today forward.

The most useful question at this point is not how to avoid the new fees – that is no longer possible. The question is what to do now that the fees are higher, so you do not pay them twice.

The most useful question at this point is not how to avoid the new fees – that is no longer possible. The question is what to do now that the fees are higher, so you do not pay them twice.

This guide gives practical, applicant-type-specific guidance on exactly what to do next. Each section is written for a specific group: students, graduates, skilled workers, partner visa applicants, and employers. If your situation does not fit neatly into one category, the final section on how to work with a migration agent will help.

The single most important thing to know right now

The fee that applies to your application is set by the date the Department of Home Affairs receives your lodged application – not the date you started preparing it, not the date you handed documents to your agent, and not the date you sat your English test.

Starting early does not lock in any rate. Lodging a complete, decision-ready application is the only thing that matters. With fees already at their new levels, lodging a rushed or incomplete application that leads to refusal now costs 25% more than the same mistake would have cost three months ago.

First: Understand Exactly What Changed and What Did Not

Not every visa increased by the same amount. Knowing which category your visa sits in helps you plan accurately.

Category	What happened
Increased by approximately 25%	Most mainstream visa categories student (500), graduate (485), partner (820/801, 309/100), skilled (189, 190, 491, 186, 482, 494), Student Guardian (590)
Increased by approximately 2.5% only	ELICOS (English language) and non-award course student visas rose from $2,000 to $2,050 rather than $2,500
Increased by over 200%	Bridging Visa B rose from $190 to $575 (+203%). Resident Return Visa (155/157) rose from $490 to $1,475 (+201%). These are the steepest increases in the entire update.
Not increased	eVisitor (651) and ETA (601) these are unaffected. Pacific Island country and Timor-Leste passport holders may qualify for concessional rates on some subclasses check the DHA Visa Pricing Estimator.
What did not change	Eligibility requirements, visa conditions, occupation lists, and processing criteria are unchanged. The increase is in the application charge only not in what you need to qualify.

What the fee applies to and what it does not include

The visa application charge (VAC) is the government fee paid to the Department of Home Affairs to process your application. It does not include:

• Medical examinations (charged separately at actual cost)
• Police clearance certificates
• English language test fees (IELTS, PTE, OET)
• Skills assessment authority fees
• Migration agent professional fees
• Credit card surcharge through ImmiAccount (approximately 1.4% on top of the VAC)
• Second instalment charges (applicable to some visa types)

A 25% increase to the VAC compounds through these additional costs on a larger base.

If You Are a Student: What to Do Now

Applying for a Student Visa (Subclass 500)

The student visa fee is now AUD 2,500 for the primary applicant up from AUD 2,000. This is already one of the most expensive student visas in the world, and the 1 July 2026 increase widened that gap further.

The fee being higher does not mean applications should be rushed. India remains on Assessment Level 3 – the highest scrutiny category – meaning the refusal rate for Indian higher-education applicants was approximately 40 percent in early 2026. A refused application at AUD 2,500 means starting again and paying AUD 2,500 again.

What to do:

• Confirm your Genuine Student statement is specific to you, honest, and consistent with your supporting documents before you pay AUD 2,500
• Make sure your financial documentation shows a clean 3 to 6 month account history a large last-minute deposit that appeared recently is a refusal risk at any fee level
• Confirm your IELTS or PTE result meets the 6.0 overall minimum and each band reaches at least 5.5
• Verify your Confirmation of Enrolment is for a CRICOS-registered provider and the course is the same AQF level or higher than your previous visa grant
• Get your application reviewed by a MARA registered migration agent before lodging – under Assessment Level 3, the margin for error is smaller and the fee for getting it wrong is higher

Applying for the 485 Temporary Graduate Visa

The 485 is the visa that has been hit hardest. It has increased three times in roughly 12 months – from AUD 2,300 to AUD 4,600 in March 2026, and again to AUD 5,750 on 1 July 2026. That is a total increase of approximately 150 percent in a single year.

For a graduate who also includes a partner in the application, the total government fee component is now over AUD 8,000 before any additional costs.

What to do:

• Confirm which stream you are eligible for Post-Higher Education Work or Post-Vocational Education Work. Some streams have different fee settings, so verify your exact charge using the DHA Visa Pricing Estimator, not a general estimate
• Check your 16 calendar months of eligible Australian study is properly documented and that your course was completed at a CRICOS-registered institution
• If your study involved course changes, provider transfers, or AQF level changes, have your 485 eligibility reviewed before paying AUD 5,750
• Do not leave your 485 application until your current visa is about to expire the combination of preparation time, health checks, police clearances, and the higher fee means earlier is better
• Plan the subsequent pathway before you apply for the 485 the 485 costs AUD 5,750, and the next visa (skilled or employer-sponsored) will cost AUD 6,135 or more. Knowing your full pathway before you commit saves money

If You Are a Skilled Worker: What to Do Now

Skilled visas across all the major pathways Subclass 189, 190, 491, 482, 186, and 494 increased by approximately 25 percent on 1 July 2026. Primary applicant fees now sit at AUD 6,135 for the Subclass 189 and AUD 6,140 for the 190, 491, 186, and 494.

For a skilled visa applicant including a partner and one child, the total government fee component now commonly exceeds AUD 13,000 before skills assessment, English testing, or professional fees.

What to do:

• Verify every points claim in your SkillSelect Expression of Interest is accurate and supported by current, documentable evidence before accepting an invitation the non-refundable fee at AUD 6,135 or more makes this step non-negotiable
• Check your skills assessment is still valid. Assessments from some authorities expire after three years; an expired assessment at the time of lodgement can invalidate your application
• Confirm your English test results have not expired results are typically valid for three years from the test date
• For state nomination (190 or 491), confirm your occupation is on the current state priority list and you meet all nomination-specific requirements before the invitation is accepted. Requirements vary significantly by state and can change between rounds
• For the 491 Skilled Work Regional visa, confirm you understand the regional living and work obligations that apply once the visa is granted the visa conditions are part of what you are committing to when you pay the application charge
• Use the Department of Home Affairs Visa Pricing Estimator to confirm the exact charge for your specific subclass, stream, and applicant combination before lodging do not rely on a fee quoted in older blog posts or agent brochures, which may now be outdated

New financial year – state nomination quotas have reset

From 1 July 2026, state nomination programs across WA, SA, QLD, and NSW have reset with fresh 2026-27 allocations. States that were closed before 30 June including Victoria and Tasmania may be reopening progressively. This is the ideal window to reassess your state nomination strategy if you were previously waitlisted or in a state that had closed.

If You Are Applying for a Partner or Family Visa: What to Do Now

The partner visa fee increased from AUD 9,365 to AUD 11,710 on 1 July 2026 a single non-refundable payment covering both the temporary and permanent stages of the visa. This is already among the highest partner visa fees in the developed world, now approaching three to five times the equivalent cost in the United Kingdom and United States.

For Indian couples where one partner is in Australia and the other is in India this fee represents a significant financial commitment. The non-refundable nature of the charge makes preparation quality the single most important factor in avoiding loss.

What to do:

• Build your evidence file across all four relationship categories before you lodge: financial evidence (joint accounts, shared expenses), social evidence (photographs, shared events, acknowledgement by family), household evidence (shared address, utilities), and correspondence evidence (messages, calls, travel together)
• Write a relationship timeline document a clear chronological narrative of how and when the relationship developed, supported by evidence at each stage. This is one of the most useful documents in a partner visa and is entirely within your control to prepare well
• Choose statutory declarants carefully the Department’s scrutiny of third-party declarations has increased in 2026. Each declarant should be someone who has genuinely and regularly witnessed the relationship over time, writing in their own words and from their own experience
• For onshore applicants (820/801): confirm your current visa status before lodging and check whether Schedule 3 considerations apply this can significantly affect how your application must be structured
• For onshore applicants: do not leave Australia on a Bridging Visa A without first obtaining a Bridging Visa B. Leaving on a BVA causes it to cease, which directly affects your onshore application status
• At AUD 11,710 non-refundable, a Request for Further Information that you cannot properly respond to is a more expensive problem than it was before the fee increase. Get the application right before you submit it

If You Are an Employer Sponsoring a Worker: What to Do Now

For employers, 1 July 2026 brought two simultaneous changes: higher visa application charges and higher salary thresholds. Both apply to nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2026.

Threshold or charge	Before 1 July 2026	From 1 July 2026	Notes
Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT / TSMIT)	$76,515 per year	$79,423 per year	Applies to all Subclass 482 Core Skills stream nominations
Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT)	$141,210 per year	$146,576 per year	Applies to Subclass 482 Specialist Skills stream nominations
Fair Work High Income Threshold (FWHIT)	$183,100 per year	$190,100 per year	Relevant to the Subclass 186 age exemption
Subclass 482 visa application charge	$3,210	$4,015	Per primary applicant
Subclass 186 visa application charge	$4,910	$6,140	Per primary applicant

What to do:

• Review the employment contract and confirm the salary meets the new AUD 79,423 CSIT threshold before lodging the nomination a nomination that does not meet the new threshold will be refused, and neither the nomination fee nor the Skilling Australians Fund levy is refunded
• Note that the SAF levy for small businesses (annual turnover under AUD 10 million) is AUD 1,200 per visa year for the 482, and AUD 3,000 total for the 186 on top of the higher application charge
• If your employee is close to the old CSIT of AUD 76,515, their salary may now need to be reviewed before a nomination can lawfully proceed
• From 1 July 2026, employers are also required to pay superannuation at the same time as wages rather than quarterly build this cashflow change into your workforce planning alongside the higher visa costs
• If you are relying on the age exemption for a Subclass 186 application, confirm the employee’s earnings exceeded the new FWHIT of AUD 190,100 during the qualifying period

Five Mistakes That Cost Applicants Money After a Fee Increase

After a fee increase, certain patterns consistently lead to applicants paying the higher fee twice. These are the five most common ones.

Mistake	Why it matters
Mistake 1	Rushing a weak application to ‘get it in quickly’	The fees have already changed. There is no old rate to lock in. A rushed application that results in refusal now costs 25% more than the same mistake three months ago and you pay the full fee again on reapplication.
Mistake 2	Using a fee figure from before 1 July 2026	Home Affairs updated its pricing table at 12:27am on 1 July 2026. Any fee quoted in older blog posts, agent brochures, or forum threads from before that date is now incorrect. Always use the Department’s official Visa Pricing Estimator before lodging.
Mistake 3	Confusing ‘submitted to agent’ with ‘lodged with Home Affairs’	The fee that applies is set at the point Home Affairs receives your application not when you hand documents to your migration agent or education consultant. If there is any gap between those two dates, the fee that applies is the one current on the later date.
Mistake 4	Forgetting the credit card surcharge and second instalment	Paying by credit card or PayPal through ImmiAccount adds approximately 1.4% on top of the VAC. Some visa types also have a second instalment charge due later in processing. Both existed before July, but a 25% higher base means both add up to more in dollar terms.
Mistake 5	Not checking the ImmiAccount import limit	A new rule took effect on 1 July 2026: a visa application can only be imported into ImmiAccount up to three times. Further import attempts are blocked unless Home Affairs manually resets the limit. Organisations managing applications across multiple users should use the Assign or Share functions instead of repeated imports.

How to Make a Fee Increase Work in Your Favour

A higher fee creates a natural pressure that most applicants feel as stress. But used correctly, that same pressure is an argument for doing something that pays for itself many times over: getting a thorough professional review before you lodge.

Consider the maths:

• A partner visa refused at the new fee costs AUD 11,710. A second application costs another AUD 11,710. Total lost: AUD 23,420 plus health, police, and professional fees.
• A skilled visa refused at the new fee costs AUD 6,135 or more. Reapplication costs the same again. Plus skills assessment renewal, English test renewal, and state nomination re-engagement.
• A student visa refused at AUD 2,500 delays the applicant by a full intake cycle potentially 6 months plus the reapplication fee.

At current fee levels, the cost of a professional review from a MARA registered migration agent before lodgement is almost always a fraction of the cost of a refusal and reapplication. That was true before 1 July 2026. It is more true now.

There is a second way the fee increase can work in your favour: it filters out applicants who are not serious about their applications. SkillSelect invitation rounds, state nomination allocations, and processing queues all benefit from fewer low-quality applications in the pool. If your application is thoroughly prepared and decision-ready, you are competing in a better-quality field.

How Red Earth Education and Migration Can Help

Red Earth Education and Migration is a MARA registered migration agency based in Perth, Western Australia, with offices in India. We work with Indian students, graduates, skilled professionals, and families navigating the Australian visa system.

Our team speaks Hindi, Punjabi, and Gujarati. Every consultation is with a MARA registered agent not an unregistered education agent or general migration advisor. We give you specific advice about your specific application before you pay a non-refundable government charge.

Who we help	What we do for you
Students (Subclass 500)	We review your Genuine Student statement, financial documentation, course alignment, and English test result. Under Assessment Level 3, your preparation directly affects whether your AUD 2,500 leads to an approval or a loss.
Graduates (Subclass 485)	We confirm your stream eligibility, verify your 16-month study requirement is correctly documented, and check whether any course changes affect your 485 eligibility before you pay AUD 5,750.
Skilled workers (189/190/491)	We verify every points claim in your EOI against current documentation standards, match your occupation to active state nomination lists, and advise on your realistic invitation prospects before you commit to paying AUD 6,135 or more.
Partner visa applicants	We help you build a complete, well-organised evidence file across all four relationship categories and review the legal structure of your application before you pay AUD 11,710 non-refundable.
Employer-sponsored applicants	We review the nomination salary against the new AUD 79,423 CSIT, prepare nomination documentation, and guide both employer and applicant through the Skills in Demand or ENS visa process under the new fee and threshold settings.

One review before you lodge is worth far more than the cost of a refusal.
Book a free consultation with our MARA registered team in Perth today before you pay any non-refundable government charge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the 1 July 2026 visa fee increase already in effect?

Yes. All Australian visa application charges increased on 1 July 2026 following the commencement of the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026. Applications lodged on or after 1 July 2026 are subject to the new higher fees. Applications lodged before that date keep the old fee regardless of when a decision is made.

Does starting my application before 1 July lock in the old fee?

No. The fee is determined by the date the Department of Home Affairs receives your complete lodged application not the date you start preparing it, not the date you hand documents to your migration agent, and not the date you begin your English test. The new fees are already in effect. The only way to have paid the old rate was to have lodged a complete application before 1 July 2026.

Can I get a refund if my visa is refused after paying the new higher fee?

No. Australian visa application charges are non-refundable regardless of the outcome. A refused application, a withdrawn application, and an incorrectly lodged application all result in the fee being lost permanently. This is why thorough preparation before lodgement rather than speed is the most important factor in protecting the fee you pay.

Should I rush my visa application now to avoid any future fee increases?

No. Rushing an incomplete application significantly increases your refusal risk, and a refusal means paying the full new fee again on reapplication. Migration agents consistently caution against lodging before an application is genuinely ready. The cost of a second, correctly prepared application at current fee levels almost always exceeds the saving from rushing an incomplete first attempt.

Are there any visa categories that did not increase by 25% on 1 July 2026?

Yes. ELICOS and non-award course student visas increased by approximately 2.5% rather than 25%, rising from AUD 2,000 to AUD 2,050. eVisitor (651) and ETA (601) holders are unaffected by the increase. Some Pacific Island country and Timor-Leste passport holders may be eligible for concessional charges on certain visa subclasses confirm eligibility using the DHA Visa Pricing Estimator before assuming the standard rate applies.

What is the ImmiAccount three-import limit that came in on 1 July 2026?

From 1 July 2026, the Department of Home Affairs introduced a new limit: a visa application can only be imported into ImmiAccount up to three times. Further import attempts are blocked unless the Department manually resets the limit. This mainly affects organisations and agents who manage applications across multiple users. The Department recommends using the Assign or Share functions within ImmiAccount instead of repeated imports to avoid hitting the limit.

How can a migration agent in Perth help me after the fee increase?

A MARA registered migration agent in Perth can review your application before lodgement confirming the exact fee for your specific visa subclass and circumstances, identifying any documentation gaps or red flags that could lead to a refusal, and ensuring your application is decision-ready before you pay a non-refundable charge. With fees 25 percent higher across most visa categories, the cost of professional review before lodgement represents better value than it ever has.

Conclusion

The 1 July 2026 visa fee increase has already taken effect. The window to access the old rates is closed. What applicants in every category can control now is the quality of their application and that is the most important variable in whether a non-refundable fee leads to an approval or a loss.

Students paying AUD 2,500. Graduates paying AUD 5,750. Skilled migrants paying AUD 6,135 or more. Partner visa applicants paying AUD 11,710. In every case, the practical response is the same: prepare carefully, verify everything before you lodge, and get professional advice before you pay.

If you are planning a visa application and want to make sure your preparation matches the stakes of the new fee levels, our MARA registered team at Red Earth Education and Migration is available for a free consultation. We work specifically with Indian students, graduates, skilled professionals, and families in your language, with your pathway in mind.