In last week’s budget the Federal Government announced that the cost of applying for most Australian visas will increase from 1 July 2015.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection have indicated that “The changes will fund investment in a number of improvements to support stronger borders and national security initiatives”
The Departments visa application charge (VAC) fact sheet states;
- A price increase in line with inflation (2.3 per cent) on visas which face strong international competition or have been impacted by recent price increases. These include specific visas within the Permanent Migration Skill Stream, Skilled Graduate, Temporary Long Stay Business (Subclass 457), Visitor and Student visa streams.
- A 5 per cent price increase on visas which continue to see strong demand despite previous increases, or are likely to see a sustained volume increase through policy changes under consideration.These include specific visas within the Temporary Resident Short Term Business and Entertainment visas, Working Holiday visas, Resident Return and Retirement Investor visas, and Contributory Parent visa streams.
- A 10 per cent price increase on specific visas within the Other Family (Remaining Relative, Carer and Aged Dependent Relative) visas, and (non – contributory) Parent visa streams where the underlying demand is not expected to be impacted by the price increase.
- A 50 per cent increase to the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) stream in the permanent migration Skill stream category where the VAC is a very small component of the minimum $5 million of investments required under the visa regulation.
- An alignment of VAC prices where a differential currently exists for lodging an onshore and offshore application for specific visa subclasses. Electronic Travel Authorities (ETA), eVisitor and Refugee and Humanitarian visas will not be affected by these changes.
Offshore Partner visas have seen application fees rise from $4,639 for a primary applicant to $6,865.
Application fees for secondary applicants is also set to rise from $2,320 to $3,435 for an adult dependent and $1720, up from $1,155 for any child included in an application.
For more information regarding fee changes click here.
