A higher price tag

“Australia currently has the least competitive student visa application costs among key OECD education destinations,” says a briefing paper by the postgraduate students representative group, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA). This comment may sound familiar and relevant to the present day, however, this particular briefing paper will be 15 years old in December. Listing examples of student visa application fees in competitor destinations, the paper argues that Australia’s fees were too high and should be lowered to maintain the country’s popularity with international students. Of course, all the student visa fees listed in the paper are now higher. Recently, New Zealand’s student visa fee also doubled; however, Australia’s fees are still the highest in that table.

A “nail in the coffin”

A UK student visa application fee is £490. In the US, it’s USD 185, plus a 350 SEVIS fee. In Canada, it’s CAD 150. In Ireland, €60-100 (depending on whether it’s a single-entry or multiple-entry), and in the Netherlands, €228. In France, between €50 and €99.

The Australian government recently hiked student visa application fees to AUD 1,600 (about USD 1080, €969, £826). The student visa fee increase was announced at the beginning of July 2024 amid other initiatives, including lowering the eligibility age to 35 years old for specific streams of the Temporary Graduate Visa (master’s by coursework and bachelor’s degrees).

“These changes will strengthen integrity in the international education system and help to fund important reforms […],” said Minister for Education Jason Clare in a statement announcing the changes.

Other comments were less enthusiastic.

Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer Luke Sheehy tells QS Insights Magazine: “Australia has worked hard to establish itself as a leading provider of international education and the Government's continued policy pressure on the sector puts our position of strength at risk.

“This is not good for our economy or our universities, both of which rely heavily on international student fees, or the communities who benefit from the skills, knowledge and culture of the students who choose to study in Australia.”

Comments by the Group of Eight (Go8), the representative body for the country’s research-intensive universities, were arguably even stronger. In a statement, the visa fee hike was branded as “another nail in the coffin for international education”, with the Go8’s Chief Executive Vicki Thomson arguing that, far from restoring integrity in the sector, this measure would be a deterrent to international students. “The recent crackdown on visa approvals has already sent a strong signal that we are not open for business,” Thomson said.

“This increase in visa fees will reverse the diversification of countries from which students come, at the very time the Federal Government is encouraging our universities to attract quality students from the ASEAN region.

“Yet again our international students are being used as cash cows to prop up the economy, the national research effort and now to fund other Government initiatives.”

Read the full article on QS Insights Magazine.