Every major visa charge just jumped about 25 per cent
From 1 July 2026, the Department of Home Affairs lifted visa application charges across the board. These are not indexation tweaks. They are step changes, and the lodgement date decides which figure your client pays.
| Visa | Was | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student visa (subclass 500), most students | $2,000 | $2,500 | +25% |
| Student visa (subclass 500), ELICOS sector | $2,000 | $2,050 | New lower tier |
| Temporary Graduate (subclass 485), main streams | $4,600 | $5,750 | +25% |
| Partner (subclass 820/801) | $9,365 | $11,710 | +25% |
The ELICOS sector was carved into its own lower tier, sparing short-course students the full jump. OSHC family cover is climbing too, with providers already flagging the next round of premium increases.
The 485 sat at $2,300 a year ago. It has risen 150 per cent in twelve months.
Lodgement date, not decision date
The charge is locked at lodgement, not at decision. A 485 lodged on 30 June costs $4,600 even if it is decided in August. The same file lodged on 1 July costs $5,750.
At these prices, a refused application is a five-figure mistake, and a missed lodgement window is a client conversation no agent wants to have. The cost of a sloppy file just went up with the fees.
Salary thresholds moved too
Employer-sponsored salary thresholds indexed up 3.9 per cent under the AWOTE formula in regulation 5.42A. The Core Skills Income Threshold and the TSMIT both rise from $76,515 to $79,499. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold rises from $141,210 to $146,717.
These apply to subclass 482 and 186 nomination applications lodged on or after 1 July 2026. As with the fee increases, lodgement date is what fixes the figure, not the decision date.
The fix is not working harder
It is working from a system that keeps every file decision-ready and every advice step recorded, so that when a client questions the bill, the trail answers for you. That is what practice infrastructure is for.
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