- Lower student visa fee being considered for certain cohorts
- Fee reduction likely to be balanced by additional charges such as provider transfer or dependant fees
- Leaders push for policy reform ahead of key panel at The PIE Live Asia Pacific
Ahead of a high-profile policy panel at The PIE Live Asia Pacific on July 29-30, Phil Honeywood, CEO of International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), told The PIE News he is hopeful that ongoing lobbying efforts will lead the government to reduce the recently increased $2,000 student visa fee for specific cohorts of students.
A reduction – to $1,000 – may be considered for the following cohorts:
- Independent ELICOS
- Learning abroad
- Non-award programs of less than 12 months duration
In July 2025, the Australian government increased the student visa application fee to $2,000. The move followed a 125% fee increase implemented just one year earlier, from $710 to $1,600.
The earliest students and providers could expect a reduced visa fee is January 1, Honeywood explained. However, the sector should also anticipate a cost offset, with options under consideration including a provider transfer fee or an additional dependant fee.
According to Honeywood, the visa fee increase is “killing” Australia’s ELICOS sector. The sector has seen a slew of closures in recent months – including IH Sydney, Perth International College of English (PICE), the Language Academy and most recently the Lonsdale Institute.
According to Felix Pirie, CEO of Independent Tertiary Education Council (ITECA), the visa fee hike is also causing major issues for skills training programs, with enrolments and interest from certain markets suffering.
“It’s a really big problem, particularly for those markets across Southeast Asia and South America,” he said.
“A lot of our members have already – two weeks in – had extensive feedback, not just from agents, but from other education providers, businesses and students directly saying, ‘it’s just not worth it'”.
“The government’s feedback directly to us and the departments also is that it’s only a $400 lift, it’s not going to be determinative when students have to already put aside $28,000 to come to Australia,” explained Pirie.
However, Pirie notes that in some markets, the additional $400 exceeds a month’s wages. With the fee being non-refundable, many students simply can’t justify the financial risk.
Earlier this week, the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) and the Regional Universities Network (RUN) – together representing 14 Australian universities – released a five-point plan for international education.
According to the networks, the visa fee is also having a negative impact on international parternships, with partner universities saying that they will direct exchange students elsewhere due to cost, in turn reducing opportunities for Australian students to study abroad.
IRU and RUN are therefore advocating for visa fees to be “immediately reduced” for students coming to Australia for 12 months or less, in line with the exemptions already implemented by government for students from Pacific Island Nations.
Phil Honeywood and Felix Pirie will be joining Luke Sheehy and Simone Fuller at The PIE Live Asia Pacific on 29-30 July on the following session: Policy update: the next steps for Australia.
