Graduates visa application charges doubled for most on 1 March 2026

It was a surprise to many when after a system outage over the weekend, international students and immigration professionals woke to the news that for most subclass 485 – Temporary Graduate visa applicants, the visa application charges have doubled.

The legislative instrument, which commenced on 1 March 2026, implements a four-tiered structure to visa application charges depending on whether it is the first or subsequent graduate visa and what passport the visa applicant holds.

The Explanatory Memorandum states that this is to align with fiscal measures as part of the 2025–26 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). However, the MYEFO only mentions an uplift of student visa application charges and does not refer to international student graduates.

For most applicants, the base visa application charge doubled from $2,300 to $4,600. For additional applicants 18 years of age and over, the fee increased from $1,150 to $2,300, and for additional applicants under 18 years of age, the fee increased from $580 to $1,160.

For Pacific and Timor-Leste applicants who are defined as eligible passport holders, the old application fees apply.

There are additional visa application charge increases for existing Post‑Higher Education Work stream visa holders seeking to apply for a further subclass 485 visa based on studying in a regional area. Again, there are reduced application charges for those who hold an eligible passport.

A cynic will say this is a blatant cash grab, with many recent graduates finishing their courses at the end of the year and with a visa that expires on 15 March 2026. The news could have been ameliorated somewhat with longer visa grants, but this has not happened. There also seemed to have been forewarning from the Department of Home Affairs of this increase, meaning many new graduates must stump up the additional fees with only a couple of weeks away until their visas expire.