AUSTRALIA – Visa Fees Increase from 1 July 2015

,

From 1 July 2015, Australian Visa Application Charges (VAC) will increase.

The fee changes include an increase in line with inflation (2.3%) for the Subclass 457 visa for temporary skilled work, and for certain employer-sponsored migration routes.

Key Changes

The full fee changes are listed here and are in Australian dollars.

The application fee for a Subclass 457 visa for temporary skilled work will increase from $1035 to $1060 for the principal applicant and any adult dependents, and from $260 to $265 for any child dependents aged under 18 years.

The application fee for the Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme and the Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme will increase from $3520 to $3600 for the principal applicant, from $1760 to $1800 for adult dependents and from $880 to $900 for child dependents.

Planned System Outages

To implement the fee changes, there are a number of planned system outages leading up to 1 July 2015.

These outages could prevent online submission of applications. The dates of the planned outages are:

• from 9pm Friday 26 June until 8am Saturday 27 June 2015 AEST (GMT+10);
• from 7pm Tuesday 30 June until 7am Wednesday 1 July 2015 AEST (GMT=10).

Reorganisation of Immigration and Border Services

From 1 July 2015, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) will be consolidated into a single Department of Immigration and Border Protection. At this time, the Australian Border Force, a single frontline operational border agency, will be established within the department.

In protest at the change, DIBP staff began industrial action on Monday 16 June and will continue intermittently until Friday 26 June. During this period, airports, client service centres, ports, container examination facilities and visa processing offices will be affected.

Action Items

• Ensure global mobility planning takes into account the new visa charges;
• Be prepared for delays in visa processing and travel due to the planned system outages and strikes.