SYDNEY
\nAustralia\u2019s ruling Labour Party said on Monday it would raise visa fees for international students to A$2,000 ($1,279) if reelected, the latest measure aimed at the lucrative education sector that has been a major source of immigration.
\nThe visa fee hike, from A$1,600 currently, will bring in A$760 million over the next four years, Australia\u2019s Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement on Labor\u2019s policy costings for Saturday\u2019s federal election.
\n\u201cWe think that\u2019s a sensible measure that really prizes, I think, the value of studying here in Australia,\u201d Gallagher told a news conference.
\nThe government more than doubled the fee for international student visas in July last year to A$1,600 from A$710.
\nAustralia\u2019s conservative opposition has already pledged to raise the visa fee to a minimum of A$2,500, and A$5,000 for applicants to the country\u2019s top universities, known as the Group of Eight.
\nInternational students are a major source of revenue for Australian universities, but are also in part responsible for a rise in net migration that has driven up housing costs.
\nAlmost 200,000 international students arrived in Australia in February 2025, government statistics show, an increase of 12.1 percent over the previous year and 7.3 percent higher than pre-COVID levels in February 2019.
\nLabor has promised to cap international student commencements at 270,000 in 2025, while the opposition favors a lower figure of 240,000.
\nThere were more than a million international students enrolled in Australia in 2024, while 572,000 students commenced their studies.
\nVisa fees for students in Australia are already significantly higher than similar countries such as the US and Canada, where they cost about $185 and C$150 ($108) respectively.
\nThe government last year also tightened English language requirements for student and graduate visas, as well as introducing powers to suspend education providers from recruiting international students if they repeatedly break rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY Australia\u2019s ruling Labour Party said on Monday it would raise visa fees for international students to A$2,000 ($1,279) if reelected, the latest measure aimed at the lucrative education sector that has been a major source of immigration. The visa fee hike, from A$1,600 currently, will bring in A$760 million over the next four years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-475350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n