The visa fees: what a family pays at submission
The fees for a skilled visa you pay per person, directly to the Australian government — and they are indexed every year on 1 July. The current amounts, what a family adds up to, the second instalment of A$ 4,885 for whoever has no functional English, and why you can't save on this.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Of all the amounts in the Australian journey, the visa fees are the least negotiable. Three things are fixed:
- You pay them per person.
- You pay them directly to the Australian government, at the moment you submit your application.
- There is no discount, no family rate and no refund on a refusal.
Precisely for that reason they belong early in your budget, not as a surprise in phase four.
The amounts, per person
For the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) these base fees apply since 1 July 2026, checked against the official fee table on 7 August 2026:
| Who | Fee |
|---|---|
| Main applicant | A$ 6,135 |
| Partner (18+) | A$ 3,070 |
| Per child (under 18) | A$ 1,540 |
| Second instalment per family member aged 18 or over without functional English | A$ 4,885 |
So a couple pays well over A$ 9,200, a family with two children well over A$ 12,200. Converted, that is around € 7,500, depending on the exchange rate. The 190 and 491 routes use fee amounts in the same order. The exact amounts per subclass are in the official table (see the source).
The fees are indexed every year on 1 July. If you submit around the turn of the programme year, count on the new amounts, and check the table just before submitting. What is written here was checked on the date above this article, but the table is leading. Home Affairs moreover charges the price on the day the application reaches them: if the price rises between your lodging and their receipt, you pay the new amount.
The second instalment: the amount that surprises families
For an accompanying family member aged 18 or over without functional English, Australia charges a second instalment on top of the fees: A$ 4,885 per person with the 190, as stated with that visa. You only pay it when Home Affairs asks for it, and it only does so if the visa is going to be granted. The Visa Pricing Estimator, Home Affairs' fee calculator, leaves it out.
For a partner just below the language threshold this is therefore the amount a language test can be set against: whoever can demonstrate functional English doesn't pay it.
Count on a surcharge too if you pay by credit card or PayPal. Home Affairs warns you to set your daily limit and balance accordingly, because a declined payment is an application that hasn't been lodged.
What's not in it
The fees are the final piece, not the whole cost picture of the application phase. On top of that, in the course of the journey you pay for:
- the skills assessment (differs per authority);
- the language test per sitting;
- the medical examination per person at the panel physician;
- police certificates per country;
- any translations.
Each has its own moment in the journey. That is exactly why the application phase for a family easily runs into thousands of euros before a single suitcase is packed.
Whoever goes through a state moreover often pays fees to that state for the nomination itself. Those places are scarce: for the 2025–26 programme year the Australian government set the total number of nominations for all states and territories together at 20,350, and every state sets its own fee and conditions.
The calculator on the Australia page adds all this up for your situation, indicating per item whether it is a checked rate or an estimate.
The unwritten rule
Pay the fees only once the rest of your file is complete: the examination planned, the certificates in, every claim from your Expression of Interest covered with evidence. On a refusal the fees are gone, and most refusals are avoidable: expired documents, points claims not substantiated. Whoever uses the 60-day clock well makes submission a formality. And makes the fees the last payment of the application phase, instead of a gamble.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.5: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Australia or go straight to step 4.5 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Home Affairs — fee table, the official fee schedule — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Home Affairs — subclass 190, with the second instalment of A$ 4,885 for family members without functional English — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Home Affairs — nomination allocations per state, where the places for the 190 and 491 come from — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
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