Australian student visa application fee to rise

May 27 2009 by Ranjan Chakraborty

Fees charged to foreign students wishing to study in Australia with a student visa will increase, it has been announced.

The 20 per cent hike will come into play next year, after the changes were announced in the budget.

Current Australian student visa application fees stand at AU$450 (US$355/ GB£220/ ZAR2,870/ INR16,800). This will increase to $540 from January 2010.

The increases are expected to boost revenues by $400 million and are intended to help pay for the country’s migration and temporary entrant programme. However, the fee increase has attracted criticism from the National Union of Students which claims fees have increased by 90% over just 12 years and are now higher than the countries Australia competes against to attract students.

Universities Australia is also concerned that the fee increase, although a small amount in comparison to the cost of study in Australia overall, is symbolic and may put people off.

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