Government changes its mind on student visa application fee

The federal government has walked back the expectation that the international student visa application fee will rise in Tuesday’s budget.

The federal government has walked back the expectation that the international student visa application fee will rise in Tuesday’s budget.

The Albanese government is believed to have backed away from its plan to hike the $710 international student visa application fee in the federal budget due to be announced on Tuesday evening.

In recent weeks the government has prepared the $48bn international education industry to expect a fee increase which would at least double the cost of the fee for students, dealing another financial blow to universities and colleges.

The plan to cap international student numbers, announced on Saturday, is already set to damage education providers and other industries such as accommodation, retail, entertainment and travel which benefit from the 700,000 international students in Australia.

And the government has let it be known to the education industry that there will be no visa application fee increase, at least for now.

The application fee is non refundable to students who are rejected, and because the Home Affairs Department increased the rejection rate this year for international students applying for an Australian visa, a fee of around $1500 would have been a very major disincentive to study in Australia.