The Cost of Migrating to Australia: A Breakdown by Visa Type
“How much does it cost to migrate to Australia” has no single answer, because the cost depends on the visa type, the number of people in the application, and the pathway you choose. This article splits the cost into clear groups, attaches official figures where they can be verified, and gives an estimate range for each route — so you can budget realistically instead of trusting a single “all-inclusive” price.
What the cost of migrating is made of
A migration application usually has three groups of costs, and most newcomers only look at the first:
- Government visa charges — paid to the Department of Home Affairs when you lodge. This is the easiest figure to look up but is often not the largest.
- Mandatory supporting costs — skills assessment, English test, health examination, police checks. Depending on the visa, this group can equal or exceed the visa charge.
- Indirect costs — certified translation, bridging-visa extensions, health insurance (OVHC/OSHC), travel, and the cost of settling in for the first few months.
One important note: Australian visa charges are usually adjusted on 1 July each year. The figures below carry a verified badge from an official source as at the update date — before you lodge, always re-check the Department’s Current visa pricing page.
Government visa charges by visa type
The lodgement charge for the main applicant on some common visas:
- Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand): 4,015 AUD.
- Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme): 6,140 AUD.
- Points-tested skilled visas (189/190/491): 6,135 AUD (the subclass 189 charge; 190/491 are comparable).
- Subclass 500 (student): 2,500 AUD.
- Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday): 840 AUD — the lowest in this group.
- Partner visa, offshore (subclass 309): 11,710 AUD — the highest, because it is a single charge covering both the provisional and permanent stages.
Each dependent (partner, child) carries its own added charge, so a family’s total is considerably higher than a single applicant’s. For subclasses 482 and 186 there is also the SAF levy (Skilling Australians Fund) paid by the sponsoring business — it cannot be passed to the worker — referencing 1,200 AUD for a small business and 1,800 AUD for a large business, charged per year of the visa.
Mandatory supporting costs
This is the group most often left out of cost estimates:
- Skills assessment: required for most skilled visas. The fee varies by assessing authority (ACS, VETASSESS, Engineers Australia, TRA…) — from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars, and a process like TRA’s Job Ready Program also costs additional real working time in Australia.
- English test: IELTS/PTE/OET cost a few hundred dollars per sitting, and many people re-sit to reach their target score.
- Health examination: required for most migration visas, done at a designated panel physician.
- Police checks: from Vietnam and every country lived in for 12 months or more.
- Certified translation (NAATI): for every Vietnamese-language document submitted.
Estimating the total by pathway
Adding all three groups, common routes have very different cost profiles:
- Skilled employer-sponsored (482 → 186): two-stage visa charges + skills assessment + English; the SAF levy is paid by the employer. A common route, but it depends on having a sponsoring employer.
- Points-tested (189/190/491): no sponsor, but still requires a skills assessment + a competitive EOI score; the visa charge is 6,135 AUD for the main applicant.
- Study → 485 → PR: the largest cost sits in tuition, not the visa charge — this is a multi-year investment.
- Work and Holiday (462): the lowest visa charge (840 AUD), suited to young people, but not a direct PR route.
- Partner (309/820): the highest visa charge but few skills-related supporting costs; the main spend is on evidencing the relationship and translation.
These figures are only a reference frame for comparing visas against each other — not a quote. A real application varies with the number of people, the number of re-sits, and whether you do it yourself or use a service.
Costs people forget
- Waiting/extension costs: processing can be long, carrying living costs and sometimes temporary health insurance (OVHC).
- Health insurance: students must hold OSHC for the whole course; some temporary visas need OVHC.
- Travel and initial settling: airfares, first month’s rent (usually a 4-week bond), basic household items.
- Migration service fees: if you use a registered migration agent, that is a separate cost on top of the government charge.
Budgeting advice
- Keep a 15–20% buffer on your total estimate, because charges are adjusted yearly and applications tend to add extras.
- Separate mandatory charges from service fees when you hear an “all-inclusive” quote — the government charge is fixed and public; the difference is the service fee.
- Check the latest figures on the Department’s Current visa pricing page before lodging, especially if you lodge after 1 July.