Visa Fee Increase from July 2015
Visa Application Charges (VACs) will change from 1 July 2015. 
Details of the visa application fee increases have been released and here is a highlight:
- a 2.3% increase for all Skilled Migration, Business Innovation and Investment, Employer Sponsored 457, Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visas
- a 5% increase for Parent, Working Holiday, Resident Return Visa (RRV) and Carer visas
- a 50% increase for Significant Investor Visas (SIV) and offshore Partner Visas
The significant increase is seen at the SIV category visa (which requires an investment of AUD 5 million) and Partner Visas lodged offshore. Offshore partner visa applications prices will have 122% increase in compare to December 2014 (in nearly 6 months). The Department first increased the fee from $3085 to $4630 from January 2015 and set another increase from $4630 to $6865 from July 2015.
Now is the time for applicants considering submitting a visa application to do so as fees are applicable at the time of lodgement. Some visa applications require other components that may take time to prepare and obtain, such as skills assessment and English exams so applicants are advised to begin as soon as possible to beat the fee increase on 1 July 2015.
Table below shows the Fee changes in details:
Source:
http://www.immi.gov.au/pub-res/Documents/budget/VAC-increases-fact-sheet.pdf
