Partner visa charges increased significantly: Government revenue raising

On Monday, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection announced that from 1 January 2015, “new pricing arrangements” would be introduced for Partner visa applications. Whilst price increases are the norm in all sectors of commerce, we expect that increases be reasonable, for example, in line with CPI. Not so in this case. Partner visa application charges are set to increase by a whopping 50%! That’s right, FIFTY percent. This, in our opinion, is not reasonable.

For potential applicants, this means that instead of a $3,085.00 application charge for the main applicant (already extortionate), they will pay $4,630.00. For an applicant with two children under 18 years, the current application charge is $4,625.00. Under the new arrangements, they will have to pay close to $7,000.00. Australia’s “fair and equitable” visa system is effectively pricing people out.  What are your thoughts?

For more details, SBS ran this article: Government to cash in on visas for foreign love