Are you planning to apply for an Australian visa? Then, please note that the Department of Home Affairs increased visa application fees (VACs) from July 1st, 2023, in accordance with the Australian Federal Budget 2023-2024. Depending on the visa subclass, visa application fees (VACs) are increasing between 6% to 40%.
Visa fee increases in Australia
Other visas (6 % hike)
Visitor, training, temporary (short-term stay visas), temporary activity, working holiday visas (15% hike)
Business innovation and investment visas ( 40% hike)
Pacific Engagement Visa and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility visas (Exemption from the increase)
Only the fee associated with applying for visas will increase. The sponsorship or nomination fees, however, are currently unchanged but subject to change. Sponsors should keep an eye out for any potential sponsorship or nomination fee changes.
What is the impact of the fee increase?
These new changes will boost the Department of Home Affairs' capacity for processing visas and raise the effectiveness of its service delivery. Depending on the visa subclass and the applicant's individual financial situation, the impact of this new hike in visa application fees may differ.
The business innovation and investment visa will face a 40% hike, which is the largest in the category. The sponsorship and nomination fees remain unchanged, but sponsors may be impacted depending on whether they pay the visa applicant's fees. For instance, the rise in visa application expenses won't affect an employer who serves as a work sponsor but merely pays the sponsorship and nomination fees. The VAC fee rise may, however, have an impact on a sponsor of a Partner/Parent visa who plans to pay the accompanying expenses.
