Visa application fees are set to increase by between 6 and 40 per cent above inflation from July 1.
The rise in charges for visitors and migrants was revealed in last night's budget, with the federal government saying the extra $665 million raised over five years would go towards improving visa processing and "other government priorities".
The government has made reducing visa processing times a focus since winning last year's election.
The fees for visa subclasses including visitor, working holiday, work and holiday, training, temporary activity, and temporary work (short stay specialist) will all increase by 15 per cent.
Meanwhile, the cost to apply for business innovation and investment visas — for prospective business owners, investors and entrepreneurs — will increase by 40 per cent, from $9,195 to $12,873.
The fees for the Pacific Engagement Visa and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme will not be bumped up in the same way.
Migration Institute of Australia national vice-president Con Paxinos said the increases would be good for the government's bottom line but would be a "very significant" hit for families wanting to come to Australia.
Mr Paxinos said a 6 per cent rise was "quite meaningful on an already very expensive visa process".
"Clearly, what the government is saying is they're going to be able to extract that revenue from people that are motivated to apply for visas," he said.
"However, it is going to be very difficult for many families who are needing to apply for those types of visas in Australia."
The government's budget set the total for the 2023-24 permanent migration program at 190,000 places, 5,000 fewer than 2022-23.
The majority of the other immigration-related measures had already been revealed through leaks and announcements over the past few weeks.
Those include:
- an increase in the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold from $53,900 to $70,000
- the return of a cap on the hours international students can work, but increased by eight hours to 48 hours per fortnight (the aged-care sector will be exempt from the cap until the end of 2023)
- an extra two years of post-study work rights for international higher education graduates
- a direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens
- a pathway for Temporary Skill Shortage visa holders to access permanent residency
More substantial reforms to the migration system are expected later in the year, following a recent review which found it was "broken".
Roshana Rasheed, who lives in Adelaide after coming to Australia from Sri Lanka three years ago, said she was disappointed to hear about the increasing costs for visa applications.
"It just seems like they're hell-bent on getting money, but that just seems to be how it is," Ms Rasheed said.
"People are still going to come, it's just going to be harder, I suppose."
Ms Rasheed said it wasn't so much what was in the budget that concerned her, it was what was missing.
"Once people come here, the aftermath is what I've always been concerned about," she said.
"There's no ongoing support."
Like many migrants, she has been unable to find work in her chosen field since coming to Australia despite having qualifications and experience.
She had been enjoying a successful career in Sri Lanka in advertising and marketing, working at prestigious international agencies.
However, despite applying for as many as 100 roles over the years, she has been unable to crack the industry in Australia.
She now works as a manager for a major telco after getting an entry-level call centre job.
"I don't know if there's a stigma, but there is a problem," she said.
"My skills were on the list but the government just drops you cold.
"[The government is] willing to take our money but there needs to be some continuity or help for people."
The Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA), which represents organisations that support new migrants and refugees, also said new arrivals were being left behind.
"Our country's settlement service workers are already being pushed to breaking point," SCOA's chief executive Sandra Elhelw Wright said in a statement.
"Without adequate funding we will see more providers forced to lose essential staff and cut back on services, leaving vulnerable migrants and refugees who often have nowhere else to turn to fend for themselves."
Yeganeh Soltanpour, president of the Council of International Students Australia, said she welcomed the return of the cap on working hours because some employers were forcing international students to do "ungodly hours".
Ms Soltanpour said the 48-hour per fortnight cap worked out to about three days a week.
"Most of us do usually work three days a week anyway,” she said.
The MBA student at the University of Adelaide said she would have liked to have seen an increase in support and protection for international students from exploitation, particularly for those in regional areas.
Sydney international student Shawn Zheng said he felt optimistic about his chances of eventually obtaining permanent residency after hearing the intake would remain essentially the same.
"The reduction isn't too significant, comparing with the current financial year, and the proportion for skilled migration hasn't changed much either," Mr Zheng said.
"I think the next financial year will be similar to this one although it might be slightly more difficult."
However, he expressed concern about Australia's constantly changing skilled migration policies.
He said he was worried the requirement for permanent residency could be changed to include Australian work experience, which would jeopardise his application.
"At least I feel optimistic about the coming financial year, but I'm not sure how things will turn out after that," he said.
Settlement Services International's chief executive Violet Roumeliotis said she would have liked to have seen an increase in skilled migration pathways for humanitarian entrants, or visa processing fees waived for this cohort.
"Complementary pathways allow refugee resettlement programs to continue their focus on refugees with the greatest need and international partnerships," she said.
She added that pilot programs such as the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot and Community Refugee Settlement and Integration Pilot had provided proof complementary pathways were viable and that existing systemic barriers could be addressed.
"Expanding skilled migration pathways for humanitarian entrants would help address Australia's critical skills shortages, improve social outcomes for refugee newcomers and the community, and promote greater public awareness of and support for the provision of managed humanitarian pathways," she said.
