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Australia's Ruling Party Pledges to Hike Student Visa Fees Again if Re-elected

The Straits Times

|

April 29, 2025

Australia's ruling Labor Party on April 28 said it would raise visa fees for international students to A$2,000 (S$1,680) if re-elected, the latest measure aimed at the lucrative education sector which has been a major source of immigration.

SYDNEY -

The visa fee hike, from A$1,600 currently, will bring in A$760 million over the next four years, Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement on Labor's policy costings for May 3's federal election.

"We think that's a sensible measure that really prizes, I think, the value of studying here in Australia," Ms Gallagher told a news conference.

The government more than doubled the fee for international student visas in July 2024 to A$1,600, from A$710.

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