Commenting on the recent increase in visa application fees, MARA agent and Vision Consultants CEO Imran Ali Lakhani, along with Edlink's Fahad Jabbar, said the application fee for the Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa has risen from A$2,300 to A$5,750 in just six months, making Australia a far more expensive destination than many competing countries. One affected visa applicant said the overnight increase had disrupted their financial plans and budget.
In this podcast, SBS Urdu examined the recent increase in Australian visa application fees, which came into effect on 1 July 2026, from three different perspectives. Imran Ali Lakhani, who runs Vision Consultancy and has worked as a MARA agent for nearly two decades, said the Subclass 485 work visa fee had risen from A$2,300 to A$5,750 within six months. Citing the figures, he said Australia was no longer competitive on visa fees compared with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
Fahad Jabbar, who leads Edlink consultancy, described the increase as "unexpected", saying the student visa fee, which was once just A$700, had now reached A$2,500. He said he had been receiving calls from affected students sharing their financial difficulties. To bring in the human impact of the change, the program also featured a visa applicant who said he was preparing to apply for a TR visa for his wife when the fee suddenly increased by about A$1,100, disrupting his financial plans. He urged authorities to provide advance notice of such changes in the future.
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