Australia's 1 July 2026 visa fee rise: what it means if you're moving here
Every 1 July, Australia nudges its visa fees up a little. Most years it's inflation, 2 to 5 percent, a few dollars you'd barely notice. This year was different. On 1 July 2026 the Department of Home Affairs raised most visa fees by about 25% in a single step. That's roughly eight times the usual July increase, and it landed overnight with no warning window.
If you were about to apply, you may have watched the price move while the news loaded. And if you're planning a move to Australia on a working holiday visa, or you're thinking further ahead to studying, working or settling here, this affects the whole path, not just the first visa. Here's what actually changed, what it means for you specifically, and the part of the cost that never makes the headlines.
What changed on 1 July 2026
The increase hit nearly every category at once. A visitor visa went from AUD 200 to AUD 250. A partner visa went from AUD 9,365 to AUD 11,710. A skilled visa went from AUD 4,910 to AUD 6,135. The main student visa rose the full 25% to AUD 2,500.
A few categories jumped far more than 25%. The Bridging Visa B, the one you need to leave and re-enter Australia while an onshore application is being decided, went from AUD 190 to AUD 575. That one matters more than it looks, and we'll come back to it.
Two things didn't move at all. The eVisitor (subclass 651) is still free, and the ETA (subclass 601) still costs about AUD 20. If your passport qualifies for one of those and you're only visiting, this whole story passes you by.
What it means if you're on a working holiday visa
The working holiday visa is where most people start, so it's worth its own numbers.
The first-year visa (subclass 417 and 462) rose the standard 25%, from AUD 670 to AUD 840. The second and third-year visas rose more, to about AUD 1,000 each. Those repeat visas reward the regional work that keeps you in the country, so a bigger rise there is the government making a longer stay more expensive on purpose.
| Working holiday visa | Before 1 July 2026 | From 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| First year (417 / 462) | AUD 670 | AUD 840 |
| Second year (repeat) | AUD 670 | ~AUD 1,000 |
| Third year (repeat) | AUD 670 | ~AUD 1,000 |
If you're from China, India or Vietnam, you also register in the ballot first, which carries a separate fee of around AUD 25 on top of the visa charge. And remember your first working holiday visa has to be applied for while you're outside Australia, so the fee you pay is whatever's current on the day the Department receives it.
Run the full three-year path and the visa fees alone now come to roughly AUD 2,840, up from AUD 2,010. That's before you've booked a flight or shown the AUD 5,000-plus in funds the visa asks you to have.
The bigger picture if you plan to stay
Plenty of people arrive on a working holiday visa and end up building a longer life here, moving onto a student, skilled or partner visa down the line. If that's the shape of your plan, the whole ladder just got steeper. Here's how the visas you're most likely to touch stack up now.
| Visa | Before 1 July 2026 | From 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor (600) | AUD 200 | AUD 250 |
| Working holiday, first year (417 / 462) | AUD 670 | AUD 840 |
| Student (500) | AUD 2,000 | AUD 2,500 |
| Skills in Demand (482) | AUD 3,210 | AUD4,015 |
| Skilled (189 and similar) | AUD 4,910 | AUD 6,135 |
| Partner (820 / 801) | AUD 9,365 | AUD 11,710 |
| Bridging Visa B | AUD 190 | AUD 575 |
One more that isn't in the July rise but belongs in the same conversation: the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) already roughly doubled to about AUD 4,600 back on 1 March 2026. So if your route runs study to graduate visa to skilled, two separate increases have landed on that path inside a single year.
These are base charges for the main applicant. Add a partner or a child and each person adds more, and on the expensive visas that runs into the thousands.
The number nobody puts in the headline
Here's the part the fee tables skip. The visa charge is one line. It's rarely the number you actually hand over to move.
Take a working holiday maker who arrives, works a season, meets someone, and eventually lodges a partner visa. Over that journey the government fees are only ever half the story. Every stage asks for documents, and a lot of those documents cost money to produce and, if they aren't in English, to translate.
Here's what typically stacks on top of the visa fee, depending on where you are on the path:
- Police certificates from every country you've lived in for 12 months or more, usually AUD 50 to 100 each
- Health examinations with an approved panel doctor when required, often AUD 400 to 600
- English test results for the visas that need them, around AUD 400
- Skills assessment for skilled and some graduate routes, anywhere from AUD 500 to 2,000
- NAATI certified translations of any document that isn't already in English
That last one is the cost people forget until the Department asks for it. And it's the one we see catch movers out most often.
Why translations are the cost movers forget
The rule is simple and it doesn't bend. Any official document you rely on in your application that isn't in English has to be translated by a NAATI certified translator. Not by you, not by a friend, not by a general translation app. A standard or notarised translation won't be accepted for an Australian visa.
On a working holiday visa itself you often need very little, because the visa is light on paperwork. But the moment your plan grows past that first year, the translations start:
- A birth certificate from a non-English-speaking country, for identity on most onshore visas
- A police certificate in another language, for character on graduate, skilled and partner visas
- A marriage certificate or relationship evidence, if you're including a partner
- A driver's licence, if you want to convert it and keep driving past the first few months
None of these are expensive on their own. What catches people is timing. A missing certified translation doesn't just cost the translation fee, it triggers a request for more information and pushes your decision back by weeks. On a fee that's now non-refundable and 25% higher, a delay that risks the application is the expensive part, not the AUD 69 translation.
That's the whole reason to get the document side moving early, before you're up against a deadline.
What to do now
A few things worth knowing before you act on any of this.
The date that counts is when the Department receives your application, not when you start it. Opening an application in ImmiAccount doesn't lock in a price. If the fee changes before your application is received, you pay the new one.
Don't rush a weak application to beat a fee. The charge is non-refundable, and it's bigger than ever, so a refusal now wastes more money than it used to. Lodging early only helps if you're lodging something complete. Getting it right the first time is worth more than a few hundred dollars saved.
If you're only visiting, breathe. The eVisitor is still free and the ETA is still about AUD 20. The 25% story is about the visas people live and work on, not short trips.
Always price your own visa on the day. Fees are indexed and they move. Check the current charge on the Department of Home Affairs website before you lodge, and use their pricing estimator if a partner or child is on the application.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the working holiday visa go up? The first-year visa (417 and 462) rose from AUD 670 to AUD 840, a 25% increase. Second and third-year visas rose further, to about AUD 1,000 each.
When did the new fees start? 1 July 2026. The change applied to applications received from that date, with no transition period.
Are the new fees permanent? Yes. This wasn't a temporary surcharge. It's the new base charge, and the usual annual indexation will apply on top of it in future Julys.
Did visitor visas go up too? The subclass 600 visitor visa rose from AUD 200 to AUD 250. But the eVisitor is still free and the ETA still costs about AUD 20, so most short-term visitors are unaffected.
Do I need my documents translated for a working holiday visa? Usually not for the working holiday visa itself, since it asks for little paperwork. You'll need NAATI certified translations once your plan moves onto a student, skilled or partner visa, where identity, character and relationship documents come into play.
Which documents need a NAATI certified translation? Any official document that isn't in English and that you rely on in your application. For most people moving here that means a birth certificate, an overseas police certificate, a marriage certificate, or a driver's licence you want to convert.
