Australia visa shock: Temporary Graduate fee jumps 100% to Rs 3 lakh

Australia has doubled the Temporary Graduate visa fee to AUD 4,600, drawing criticism from students and education groups over the sudden rise

Australia on March 1 doubled the application fee for its Temporary Graduate visa, taking the cost from AUD 2,300 to AUD 4,600, or from about Rs 1.49 lakh to about Rs 2.97 lakh. The move has triggered concern across the international education sector, with students and representative bodies saying the increase was sudden and costly.

 

The Temporary Graduate visa, or Subclass 485, allows eligible foreign graduates to stay and work in Australia for 18 months to up to three years after completing their studies. It is also seen by many as a route that can lead to permanent residency. From March 1, 2026, the non-refundable application fee for this visa rose to AUD 4,600, up from the AUD 2,300 fee that had applied since July 2025.

   

“The new fee, announced without warning on March 1, 2026, is more than 10 times, three times, and twice the amount that students pay for similar visas in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK, respectively,” according to ICEF Monitor.

 

Across three fee increases in 2024, 2025 and now 2026, the Temporary Graduate visa application fee has more than doubled.

 

The government has also raised charges for accompanying dependants. The fee for partners or dependants aged 18 and over has gone up from AUD 1,115 to AUD 2,300, while the fee for children under 18 has increased from AUD 560 to AUD 1,150.

 

Even before this latest rise, the Temporary Graduate visa was already the most expensive post-study work visa in the world.

 

What other costs are rising for international students?

 

The latest fee increase comes after a run of rising costs for international students in Australia over the past two years. These include:

 

> The non-refundable Student visa, or Subclass 500, fee rising twice in two years to AUD 2,000, making it the most expensive study visa fee among major destinations

> The proof of funds threshold for living costs increasing to AUD 29,710 a year in 2024

> Private health insurance premiums, required by most international students for a visa, set to rise by 4.4 per cent in April 2026

> Tuition fees going up at many Australian universities as the cost of recruiting international students rose amid tighter regulation, with the average year-on-year increase exceeding 6 per cent in 2025

 

How is the fee rise being viewed?

 

When the Australian government raised the Student visa application fee in 2025, it said the higher charge would help filter out non-genuine students, meaning those using study-related visa routes mainly to work or migrate to Australia.

 

That explanation drew a poor response across higher education, vocational education and training, and English language teaching sectors, even though there was broad backing for stronger integrity checks. Critics said visa refusals were already climbing sharply, especially for students in VET and ELICOS courses.

 

Many students, particularly from Southeast Asia, paid the non-refundable AUD 2,000 fee only to have their visa applications refused. The ELICOS and VET sectors were among the hardest hit, as the fee applied regardless of how long a student intended to study in Australia.

 

The new Temporary Graduate visa fee, along with the lack of notice and its immediate rollout, has now drawn a similar reaction from students and education bodies.

 

What are students and education groups saying?

 

In an interview with The Guardian, a student identified as Jimmy said, “It sets a dangerous precedent where the government can bypass fairness at its whim to the detriment of vulnerable groups. Treating us as an ATM at the 11th hour is … a massive breach of trust that severely damages Australia’s international reputation”.

 

Ariya Masud, international officer at the National Union of Students, also criticised the move in comments to The Guardian.

 

“Being blindsided by the country that over 800,000 current students have called their home for years sends a clear message to international students about their standing in Australian society. [We are] regarded as ATMs to funnel a multibillion-dollar industry instead of human beings being forced into abandoning the lives and careers they’ve built here,” Masud told The Guardian.

 

In a LinkedIn post, Jesse Garden-Russell, president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, said international students remained central to the country’s higher education system and economy.

 

“International students are a critical part of Australia’s higher education system. They are critical to building Australia’s soft power, whilst also contributing $52 billion a year to the economy, and supporting 250,000 jobs,” said Garden-Russell.

 

“International graduates educated in regional universities and smaller states are best placed to address regional skills shortages.”

 

Garden-Russell said the fee rise placed an unfair financial burden on international graduates who were already dealing with high living and study costs.

 

“It sends a clear message that international graduates are being treated as revenue sources rather than valued contributors to Australia’s workforce and society,” said Garden-Russell. “Graduates finish their studies hoping to gain work experience here, contribute to their fields and build networks – not to be hit with unpredictable, punitive costs.”

 

At the University of Melbourne, the Graduate Student Association said 75 per cent of 8,500 postgraduates reported the cost of living as their biggest concern. That group includes 5,120 international students, most of them coursework students.

 

“These changes will lock out hard-working graduates from integrating and contributing further to our economy,” according to the Graduate Student Association, University of Melbourne.