International students say they feel like “ATMs” after the federal government quietly doubled application fees for temporary graduate visas, making Australia’s costs the most expensive in the world for graduates hoping to stay onshore after completing their studies.
The non-refundable visa fee rose from $2,300 to $4,600 without prior warning on Sunday, placing Australia well in excess of competitors including New Zealand (A$1,406), Canada (A$262), the UK (A$1,665) and the US (A$661).
The increase, effective immediately, does not apply to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens or students who studied in regional areas.
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The temporary graduate visa allows international students who have completed eligible qualifications at Australian institutions to live and work full-time in the country after their studies.
Jimmy, who did not want to use his surname, is one of thousands of graduates whose student visa is set to expire on 15 March after completing studies in December.
The engineering graduate from a prestigious Australian university said he was “devastated” to log on to the Home Affairs website and find visa application costs had suddenly doubled with no transitional grace period for pre-existing students.
“It sets a dangerous precedent where the government can bypass fairness at its whim to the detriment of vulnerable groups,” he said. “Treating us as an ATM at the 11th hour is … a massive breach of trust that severely damages Australia’s international reputation.”
The National Union of Students (NUS) international officer, Ariya Masud, said the decision to hike the visa application fee without student consultation meant many graduating students were uncertain if they could afford to remain in Australia.
“Being blindsided by the country that over 800,000 current students have called their home for years sends a clear message to international students about their standing in Australian society,” she said.
“[We are] regarded as ATMs to funnel a multibillion-dollar industry instead of human beings being forced into abandoning the lives and careers they’ve built here.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said information about the increase to the visa application was provided on 1 March via its website.
They said Australia continued to offer “generous” post-study work rights and highly qualified graduates who no longer wanted to apply for a temporary graduate visa “continue to have access to other migration pathways”.
The changes are the latest in a series of commonwealth reforms to the international student sector.
In mid-2024, Home Affairs more than doubled the price of the non-refundable visa fee for international students overnight, from $710 to $1,600. At the same time, the federal government reduced the age eligibility for people on temporary graduate visas to 35 and shortened the length of time holders could stay in Australia down to a maximum of three years (previously six).
Data showed the clampdown was having an impact. The number of temporary graduate visas granted dropped by 33% in the year to 31 January, with just 84,354 offers compared with 126,348 in 2024-2025.
There was a 43% decrease in the number of student visas granted in the same time period (208,156 compared with 371,564).
The Greens deputy leader and higher education spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi, said Labor was in a “race to the bottom on migration with One Nation and the Liberals” and the fee increase would “demonise and exploit” international students.
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (Capa) national president, Jesse Gardner-Russell, said the Australian job market was already exclusionary to temporary migrants trying to transition to skilled work, as many employers required permanent residency for graduate positions.
It is the third time the federal government has increased the temporary graduate visa application charge since February last year.
“Doubling the cost of their ticket to play … means that those who have already integrated into Australian society and want to contribute to growing our economy, will be unable to participate,” Gardner-Russell said.
“These rules need to be reversed.”
The education minister, Jason Clare, was approached for comment.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
