Education Desk Mumbai

The Australian government has announced that the fee for applying for a student visa will increase to AUD 2,000 as of July 2025. The move, confirmed by the Department of Home Affairs, is a dramatic increase from the current application fee of AUD 1,600.

According to the Reuters reports, the rise was unveiled as part of Labor’s pre-election budget preparations to bring in AUD 760 million for the government over the following four years. With a focus on system integrity, equity, and quality, officials said the action is part of broader efforts to more sustainably control Australia’s overseas education industry. Visa fees for students from Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste, who qualify for reduced charges, will remain unaffected.

Cap on International students

The shift comes in addition to new government policies intended to reduce the number of international students. While the opposition is demanding a stricter ceiling of 240,000, the Labor Party has proposed limiting the number of new students accepted in 2025 to 270,000. In February alone, close to 200,000 international students arrived in Australia, up over 12% on the same period last year.

Due to the fee hike, Australia currently has the highest student visa costs among the leading English-speaking study-abroad nations. By comparison, student visa fees in the United States are around USD 185 and in Canada, approximately CAD 150. The change has hit English language course providers particularly hard.

According to the reports, short-term students who frequently sign up for English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) are reluctant to pay the higher cost. Many in the industry say this has already impacted enrolment numbers, reviving memories of a similar hike in 2024, after which English language course admission dropped by nearly 50%.

Several schools have been closed over the past few months. The Perth International College of English (PICE) shut down recently, citing financial burdens related to visa matters. After serving international students for almost ten years. IH Sydney and the Language Academy are two more institutions that have closed.

The Australian government is tightening its requirements around visas in addition to raising prices. New regulations include enhanced English language proficiency and more sweeping powers to cancel education providers who persistently fail to achieve compliance criteria.