Australia visa application fees to change on 1 January 2012

Many of the Australian visa application changes will be implemented on 1 January, 2012, though others will be progressively introduced over the next 18 months (subject to normal legislative processes).

The reasons given for the visa fee changes are "to target anomalies and inconsistencies, close the gap between visa access charges and the estimated costs of administering visas, and improve the integrity of the visa system."

The Australian visas affected vary, with employer sponsored skilled migration, student visas and business visas being some of the subclasses which will see their fees changed. However, many of the visas most commonly applied for by applicants from the UK and Ireland (such as the Australian working holiday visa and the Australian ETA visa) will not see a change. 

Most of the changes will see the application fee increased, except for the Australian student visa, which will see have its fee decreased in an effort to encourage students to choose Australia as their place of study.

The full list of fee changes is as follows:

Changes to Australian visa application fees.
See below for a full list of the fee changes which are taking place on 1 January, 2012.
	New Fee
Bridging Visa B (subclass 020)	$125
Employer Nomination / Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 119)	$2,095
Labour agreement (subclass 120)	$2,095
Employer nomination (subclass 121)	$2,095
Distinguished talent offshore (subclass 124)	$2,095
Five year resident return (subclass 155)	$300
Three month resident return (subclass 157)	$300
Provisional resident return (subclass 159)	$160
Business (short stay) (subclass 456)	$140
Business (long stay) (subclass 457)	$350
Sponsored business visitor (subclass 459)	$140
Skilled (recognised graduate) (subclass 476)	$315
Skilled Graduate (subclass 485)	$315
All students (subclasses 560-580)	$535
Onshore tourist visa (subclass 676)	$290
Established business In Australia (subclass 845)	$6,030
State/ Territory sponsored regional business in Australia (subclass 846)	$6,030
Labour Agreement (subclass 855)	$3,105
Employer Nomination (subclass 856)	$3,105
Employer nomination/Regional sponsored migration scheme (subclass 857)	$3,105
Distinguished talent (subclass 858)	$3,105
Skilled regional (subclass 887)	$315
Business owner (subclass 890)	$1,895
Investor (subclass 891)	$1,895
State/Territory sponsored business owner (subclass 892)	$1,895
State/Territory sponsored investor (subclass 893)	$1,895

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Australian visa application with the Australian High Commission.