The costs nobody quotes you: a full disbursement checklist

The professional fee and the government charge are the two numbers everyone knows about. The third category - money paid to doctors, police forces, translators, assessing authorities and testing centres - is where budgets quietly break.

None of it goes to your agent. All of it is unavoidable. Most of it is predictable, which means it can be estimated, which means a quote that leaves it out has left out something knowable.

The full list#

Health examination#

$350 – $650 per person, sometimes more.

Done by a panel physician nominated by the Department. A basic examination is a medical and a chest x-ray. Additional tests - HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis screening, a specialist review - add cost, and are more likely for certain visas, certain countries and applicants over 75.

Children are usually cheaper. Pregnant applicants may need the x-ray deferred, which delays the application rather than costing more.

Police certificates#

Australian Federal Police check: $56 per adult.

Overseas police certificates: $0 – $200 each.

This is the line that surprises people. You generally need a police certificate from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, since turning 16. Not just your home country. Not just where you live now.

Someone who studied in Canada, worked in the UAE, then moved to Australia needs three. Some countries process in a week; some take two months and require fingerprints taken in person at a consulate. It is worth starting the slow ones on day one.

Costs and processing times change. Treat these as planning figures, not quotes.

Translations#

$40 – $90 per page.

Any document not in English needs a translation. In Australia that means a NAATI-certified translator; outside Australia it means a translator whose credentials the Department accepts, with their details on the translation.

Birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, police certificates, academic transcripts, employment references, bank statements. A family with documents in two languages can easily reach $600.

Skills assessment#

$300 – $1,200.

Required for most skilled visas, and paid to the assessing authority for your occupation - ACS for IT, Engineers Australia for engineering, VETASSESS for many others, AHPRA-linked bodies for health professions. Each has its own fee, its own document requirements and its own processing time.

Some also charge for a review or an appeal if the first assessment goes the wrong way.

English test#

$395 – $500 per sitting.

IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET or the Cambridge test, depending on the visa. The cost is per sitting, and people frequently sit more than once to reach a score band. Budget for at least one re-sit if you are close to a threshold.

Certified copies and witnessing#

$0 – $80.

Free at many post offices, police stations and libraries; not free everywhere, and not free if you need a Justice of the Peace to come to you. Statutory declarations are usually witnessed free at a police station.

Biometrics#

$0 – $100.

Some applicants provide biometrics at a visa application centre offshore, which carries a service fee. Onshore it is often free.

Courier, postage and document retrieval#

$30 – $300.

Getting an original birth certificate re-issued in another country, couriering documents securely, paying a family member's costs to attend an office on your behalf. Small individually and cumulatively real.

Health insurance#

Varies - and sometimes mandatory.

Student visas require Overseas Student Health Cover for the full visa period, which for a couple over three years is several thousand dollars. Some temporary visas require adequate health insurance as a condition. This is not a visa cost as such, but it is money you must spend to hold the visa, and it belongs in the budget.

Worked example: a couple applying for an onshore partner visa#

On top of an $11,710 government charge and a $4,400 professional fee, that is $17,657 - and the $1,547 is the part that was never on the original quote.

How to make an agent estimate this properly#

Ask one question: "Based on our specific situation, what do you estimate the disbursements will be, and which ones are you unsure about?"

A good agent will give you a range and name the uncertain items. A quote that says only "disbursements at cost" has told you nothing you did not already know.

On VisaBid, disbursements are a required part of a quote. An agent cannot send one without them, and the platform shows the government charge it holds for that visa beside the figure the agent entered.

Questions people ask#

Do I pay disbursements to my agent or directly?#

It varies, and both are normal. If you pay the agent, that money is being held for a purpose not yet carried out, and under section 50 of the Code it must sit in a client account, separate from the agent's own money, until it is used. Ask for receipts for each payment made on your behalf.

Can I do the health examination before I lodge?#

For some visas yes, and it can save time. For others the Department generates the referral after lodgement. Your agent will know which applies. Doing it too early is a waste if the results expire before a decision.

How long are police certificates valid?#

Generally 12 months for Department purposes. On a long-running application you may be asked for fresh ones, which is a second round of cost and time. It is one of several reasons a slow application is an expensive application.

My documents are in another language. Can my cousin translate them?#

No. The Department requires translations by an appropriately accredited translator - NAATI-certified if the translation is done in Australia - with the translator's details shown. A family translation will be rejected and you will pay twice.

Do children need everything adults need?#

Not quite. Children need health examinations but not police certificates, and the age thresholds matter: police certificates apply from age 16. Children's health examinations are usually cheaper.

Is any of this refundable?#

Almost none of it. These are payments to third parties for services performed. If your application is refused, the doctor still examined you and the police force still ran the check. Plan on the basis that it is spent.

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About this guide. This is general information about how visa costs and fees work in Australia. It is not immigration assistance and it is not advice about your situation — only a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner can give you that, and under section 280 of the Migration Act 1958 it is a criminal offence for anyone else to. Figures change, most of them on 1 July. Check any charge against immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before you rely on it, and check any agent's registration on the OMARA register.