Visa Fees Jump From 1 July 2026: What It Means for Construction Hiring and Migrant Workers

Australia's visa application charges rose sharply from 1 July 2026, with the biggest hikes hitting employer-sponsored skilled visas that construction, civil and mining businesses rely on most, according to Department of Home Affairs current visa pricing.

What's Changed

Visa Application Charges change from time to time, and the amount payable depends on the date the Department of Home Affairs receives the application. From 1 July 2026, Visa Application Charges increased across a range of visa categories, with sharp rises affecting several employer-sponsored skilled visa streams. The updated fees apply to visa applications received by Home Affairs on or after 1 July 2026. Applications received before that date were assessed under the previous, cheaper fee schedule.

• Skills in Demand (subclass 482) primary applicant fee rose from $3,210 to $4,015
• Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) primary applicant fee jumped from $4,910 to $6,140 - a near-25% increase
• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (subclass 494) also rose to $6,140 from $4,910
• The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) - the minimum salary employers must pay to sponsor a 482 visa holder increased from $76,515 to $79,423 per year
• The Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) rose to $146,576, and the Fair Work High Income Threshold used for 186 age exemptions climbed to $190,100
• Partner visa fees also jumped sharply, up from $9,365 to $11,710
• Bridging Visa B fees roughly tripled, from $190 to $575
• Administrative Review Tribunal and Federal Circuit Court migration fees also rose, adding cost to any appeals process

Visa Application Charge Increases (1 July 2026)

Current fees are based on the Department of Home Affairs current visa pricing page. Previous fees reflect the pre-1 July 2026 visa application charge schedule. Updated charges apply based on the date Home Affairs receives the visa application.

Why It Matters for Construction Hiring Companies

For builders, civil contractors and mining operators already carrying sponsorship costs, this is a direct hit to the total cost of hiring migrant labour. A single 186 nomination for a primary applicant now costs $1,230 more than it did on 30 June, before adding partner and dependent visa costs, migration agent fees, and nomination charges on top. For companies sponsoring multiple tradies, supervisors or engineers a year, this adds up to a meaningful line item in recruitment budgets.

The TSMIT increase to $79,423 is arguably more consequential than the fee rise itself. Any role an employer wants to sponsor under the Core Skills stream must now clear that salary bar, a real constraint for smaller subcontractors or regional civil firms trying to sponsor site supervisors, trade roles, or plant operators at the margin of that threshold. Employers pricing sponsorship roles just under the old $76,515 threshold now need to revisit those packages or risk ineligibility.

Why It Matters for Job Seekers and Migrant Workers

For overseas tradespeople and engineers eyeing Australia, the upfront cost of getting here has jumped. A 482 applicant now pays $4,015 just in visa application charges, on top of skills assessments, English testing, agent fees and travel. For someone weighing Australia against Canada, the UK or the Gulf, that's a real barrier to entry, particularly without employer support to cover costs.

This is where sponsored roles become more attractive relative to self-funded pathways. Workers should expect employers to be more selective about who they sponsor given the higher cost per hire meaning strong trade qualifications, verifiable experience and clean paperwork matter more than ever in a tighter, costlier system.

Will This Actually Slow Construction Labour Supply?

Probably not by much. Australia’s net overseas migration is forecast to remain substantial, with 245,000 people projected for 2026–27 and 920,000 over the four years from 2026–27 to 2029–30. That is lower than the recent migration peak, but still a large intake in labour-market terms. The federal government has not moved to materially shut off skilled migration, and construction, civil and mining employers are still dealing with hard-to-fill roles across trades, supervision, engineering and resources projects.

The more realistic effect is a shift in who bears the cost and how sponsorship decisions get made, rather than a drop in overall migrant labour flow:

• Larger contractors and tier-1 builders will absorb the fee increase as a cost of doing business, since they're already budgeting for major project workforce pipelines
• Smaller subcontractors and regional civil firms may become more selective, sponsoring only for genuinely hard-to-fill roles rather than as a routine recruitment tool
• Some employers may lean harder on domestic upskilling, apprenticeship incentives and FIFO rosters rather than fresh sponsorship, especially where TSMIT now sits above what a role was previously paying
• Expect increased demand for migration agents and HR teams to manage the new Administrative Review Tribunal and Federal Circuit Court fee increases if any nominations are challenged or reviewed

What Hiring Companies Should Do Now

• Recalculate total sponsorship cost per hire including the new VACs, nomination fees and any dependent visa charges
• Audit current and planned 482/186 role salaries against the new $79,423 TSMIT and $146,576 SSIT to confirm ongoing eligibility
• Budget sponsorship costs into project tenders and workforce planning for FY27, rather than treating visa fees as a fixed, minor cost
• Consider locking in nominations before further indexation on 1 July 2027

What Job Seekers and Migrant Workers Should Do Now

• Confirm with a prospective employer who is covering the visa application charge before accepting a sponsored role
• Check that your offered salary clears the new $79,423 threshold if applying under the Core Skills 482 stream
• Factor the higher upfront cost into any self-funded application, since fees are non-refundable even if a visa is refused
• If your application was ready to lodge, note that anything submitted before 1 July 2026 was assessed under the old, cheaper fee schedule - this window has now closed.

The Bigger Picture for the Industry

None of this changes the underlying reality driving construction and civil hiring: Australia has a structural skills shortage in trades, plant operation, tunnelling and heavy civil work that domestic training pipelines aren't close to filling. Migration settings remain expansionary at the macro level even as individual visa costs rise. The fee increase is a cash-flow and planning issue for recruiters and employers, not a labour-supply circuit breaker but it does raise the bar on how deliberately sponsorship decisions will be made, and it rewards companies that plan sponsorship costs into their workforce strategy rather than treating it as an afterthought.