Some Oz visa fees set to rise

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection are set to raise a number of visa application fees on the 1st July.

Although the full list of visas that will see increased charges has yet to be announced, the Australian Treasury has stated that only those living offshore and wanting to travel to Australia on a short-term basis will face higher fees.

The overseas charges will be brought into alignment with visa costs incurred in Australia, with the exception of child visas.

The government hopes that the increases will raise almost AUS$440 million towards the Australian economy over four years.

It has also been announced that permanent residents of Australia who are seeking citizenship will need to meet the full cost of the service as of 1st January 2016.

“Moving to full-cost recovery for citizenship costs is consistent with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines and is underpinned by the principle that cost recovery promotes equity where the recipients of a government service, rather than the general public, bear its costs,” the 2015/16 budget stated.