Cost of moving to Australia: a complete breakdown for 2026

Visa application fees

The visa application charge (VAC) is the first hard cost, and it varies significantly across visa types.

For skilled migration visas, the primary applicant charge is AUD 6,135 for a subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) and AUD 6,140 for a subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated), as at 1 July 2026 (Department of Home Affairs). Additional applicants aged 18 and over add AUD 3,070 each, and children under 18 add around AUD 1,540 each. A family of four (two adults, two children) applying for a 189 visa faces a VAC of approximately AUD 12,285.

Student visa (subclass 500) applicants pay AUD 2,500 for the primary applicant on a higher-education course, or AUD 2,050 for an ELICOS or non-award course. Applying for a further temporary visa while you are already in Australia also attracts a subsequent temporary application charge of AUD 700 on top of the visa charge itself.

Partner visas (subclass 309/100 or 820/801) carry a single primary applicant charge of AUD 11,710 covering the whole two-stage application, making them one of the most expensive visa categories for individuals.

Employer-sponsored visas (subclass 482) cost AUD 4,015 for the primary applicant, and that one charge now applies to every 482 stream — there is no longer a cheaper Short Term rate.

Parent visas (subclass 143, Contributory Parent) carry a VAC of AUD 6,300 for the first instalment, with a second instalment of AUD 43,600 per adult payable when the visa is about to be granted.

All of these amounts are the charges in force from 1 July 2026 and are indexed most years, so check the Home Affairs fee schedule before you budget. They also do not include skills assessment fees, health examination costs, police clearance charges, English language test fees, or migration agent fees — all of which can add substantially to the total pre-application cost.

Skills assessments, health checks, and English tests

Most skilled visa applicants need a skills assessment from a relevant assessing authority before they can apply. The cost depends on the occupation and the assessing body, and these fees are reviewed and increased periodically. ACS (computing) charges AUD 1,498 for the standard General Skills pathway, Engineers Australia charges AUD 1,034 for a standard Competency Demonstration Report (from AUD 346.50 for applicants using the Washington/Sydney/Dublin Accord or an Australian-accredited qualification, up to AUD 1,815 for combined pathways), and VETASSESS charges AUD 1,146 for a Full Skills Assessment lodged from outside Australia, or AUD 1,260.60 (GST-inclusive) lodged from within Australia — all as published by the respective body in September 2026. AHPRA-related health profession assessments vary by profession and are set by the relevant national board. For applicants submitting documents from overseas, additional fees for certified translations and document verification apply.

Health examinations must be completed by a panel physician approved by the Department of Home Affairs. The cost is set by the individual clinic, not by Home Affairs, and varies by country and by the specific tests required — there is no single published figure. Check the current price with the panel physician you are booked to see.

English language tests accepted by Home Affairs include IELTS (AUD 490, as published by IELTS Australia in 2026), PTE Academic (Pearson does not publish one fixed figure — it varies by test centre and is shown on Pearson's own price finder before you pay), TOEFL iBT, and the OET for healthcare professionals. Some applicants take the test more than once to achieve their target score, which doubles the cost. Confirm the current fee on the test provider's own site before budgeting, since these are increased periodically.

Police clearance certificates are required from every country where the applicant has lived for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. The fee is set by each country's own police or justice agency, and ranges from no charge at all to a moderate fee — there is no single figure that applies across countries.

Migration agent fees

Using a registered migration agent is optional. There is no official fee schedule for agents: each agent sets their own fee, and the Migration Agents Code of Conduct requires the fee to be fair and reasonable and set out in writing before the work starts.

The one figure Migratio can publish from its own data is the initial consultation. Across 686 consultation quotes from 57 registered agents on the platform (as at September 2026), the median quote was AUD 220, counting each agent once, and the middle half fell between AUD 150 and AUD 275. The fee for handling a full application is quoted case by case, and depends on the visa and how complex the case is.

Always confirm fees in writing before engaging an agent, and check their registration on the OMARA register at portal.mara.gov.au.

Flights and travel costs

International airfares to Australia are set by individual airlines and change constantly with origin, season, and how far in advance you book — there is no published fare schedule to check against, and any specific figure quoted today may be well out of date by the time you fly. As a rule of thumb, a one-way economy fare from Europe, North America or South Africa generally costs more than one from most of Asia, and fares from New Zealand are the cheapest of the routes migrants commonly fly. Peak season (broadly December to February, and around other school holiday periods) costs noticeably more than the shoulder months, and booking well ahead generally costs less than booking close to departure.

A family needs to multiply the per-person fare, and this is often the single line item worth comparing across several booking sites and dates rather than budgeting from a remembered figure.

If you are travelling with excess baggage (common when relocating), airlines charge an additional per-bag fee that varies by carrier and by weight — check your specific airline's baggage policy before you pack, since fees and allowances differ widely between carriers.

Shipping and freight

How much you bring with you is one of the biggest cost variables, and freight quotes are provider-specific rather than set by any published schedule. In general, a full container by sea costs more from further away (the UK, Europe, and the US cost more to ship from than most of Asia), a larger container costs more than a smaller one, and sea freight takes considerably longer to arrive — typically several weeks from Asia and longer from Europe or the Americas — than the days it takes for air freight, which costs substantially more per kilogram. Get quotes from at least two or three removalist companies for your specific route and volume rather than budgeting from a general figure, since prices vary widely between operators.

Many migrants opt for a middle approach: arriving with checked luggage and a few extra bags, shipping a small number of boxes by sea or consolidated air freight, and buying larger items (furniture, appliances) in Australia. Australian second-hand markets (Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree) are well-established, and furnished rental options reduce the need to ship furniture.

Do not forget customs considerations. Personal effects that you have owned and used for at least 12 months before arrival are generally duty-free under the unaccompanied personal effects concession. New items or gifts may attract GST (10%) and customs duty.

Housing costs on arrival

Housing is typically the single largest ongoing expense and the biggest immediate cash outlay on arrival. Australian rental markets require upfront payments that can total six to eight weeks' rent before you even move in.

A standard rental application involves a bond (usually four weeks' rent, held by the state's bond authority), two weeks' rent in advance, and sometimes a letting fee (though this is being phased out or banned in some states). Median rents differ substantially by city and by suburb within a city, and change from quarter to quarter, so check a current rental listings site or a state rental report for the suburb you are considering rather than budgeting from a remembered figure — Sydney and Melbourne generally sit at the higher end nationally, with Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth generally lower, but the gap between an inner-city and outer-suburb rent within the same city can be larger than the gap between cities.

These figures assume you secure a rental immediately. In practice, many migrants spend one to four weeks in temporary accommodation (hostels, Airbnb, serviced apartments) while searching for a rental, and nightly rates for this vary enormously by city, season, and how far ahead you book.

Utility connections (electricity, gas, internet) sometimes involve a connection fee, though many providers charge nothing for online sign-ups — check the specific retailer's current terms.

Health insurance

Health insurance requirements depend on your visa type. Premiums for all of the covers below are set by individual private insurers, not by government, so there is no single official price — use a comparison tool or an insurer's own quote for your age, family size and level of cover rather than a remembered figure.

Student visa holders must maintain Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the duration of their visa, purchased through one of the government-approved OSHC providers. Family cover costs more than singles cover, and premiums vary by insurer and level of cover. OSHC must typically be purchased before the visa is granted.

Temporary visa holders (subclass 482, 494, and others) must maintain adequate health insurance, most commonly Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC), again priced by the individual insurer.

Permanent residents and citizens are eligible for Medicare, Australia's public health insurance system. Medicare enrolment is free, but it does not cover everything — dental, optical, and some specialist services require private health insurance or out-of-pocket payment.

New permanent residents should be aware of the Medicare Levy Surcharge — if your income is above the relevant threshold for singles or couples/families and you do not hold an appropriate level of private hospital cover, you pay a surcharge of 1%, 1.25% or 1.5% of your income on top of the standard 2% Medicare levy. The ATO indexes these income thresholds each financial year, so check the current thresholds and rates on the ATO's Medicare levy surcharge page before assuming you are under or over the line.

First-month living costs

Beyond housing, the first month in Australia typically includes setting up the basics of daily life. None of the figures in this section are government-set, and supermarket, transport and mobile pricing all change over time, so treat them as things to check current pricing on rather than fixed costs.

Grocery spending depends heavily on household size, diet and which supermarket you shop at, and there is no single published national figure to quote.

Public transport in each capital city runs on its own smartcard scheme with its own weekly or daily fare cap — Sydney's Opal, Melbourne's myki, and Brisbane's go card are the main ones — and each state's transport authority publishes its current fares and caps on its own website, which is worth checking directly since these are revised periodically.

Mobile phone plans range from low-cost prepaid options with modest data through to postpaid plans with large data allowances; carriers publish their own current pricing.

If you are buying a car, registration, insurance, and a roadworthy inspection add to the purchase price. Registration is set and collected by each state's road transport authority and the amount depends on the vehicle and the state, so check the relevant state authority's current fee schedule; compulsory third-party insurance is bundled into registration in some states and bought separately in others.

Setting up financially on arrival

Opening an Australian bank account should ideally happen before you arrive. Both Commonwealth Bank and NAB offer pre-arrival account opening for new migrants, allowing you to transfer funds before landing and have a working debit card ready on arrival. See the guide on opening an Australian bank account before arrival for the step-by-step process.

Applying for a Tax File Number (TFN) is essential within the first 28 days. Without a TFN, your employer will withhold tax at the highest marginal rate. The application is free and can be done online through the ATO once you arrive.

Understanding your tax residency status from the outset helps avoid surprises at tax time. Most new migrants become Australian tax residents from their date of arrival, which means worldwide income is taxable from that date. See the guide on tax residency when you move to Australia for the four tests the ATO uses.

If you are transferring savings from overseas, the method you choose affects how much arrives. Bank-to-bank SWIFT transfers typically cost more in fees and exchange rate margins than specialist transfer services. For a detailed comparison of costs by provider and corridor, see the guide on transferring money to Australia.

Total cost estimates by scenario

To give a practical sense of how the categories above stack up, here are three common scenarios, built around the one figure in each that is fixed and published: the visa application charge.

A single skilled worker on a subclass 189 visa, arriving from India with checked luggage only, settling in Melbourne: the visa charge alone is AUD 6,135, as at 1 July 2026. On top of that sits a skills assessment (VETASSESS or the relevant body for the occupation), an English test, a health examination, one flight, several weeks of temporary accommodation and then a rental bond, health cover until Medicare eligibility starts, and the first month's ordinary living costs — each of which should be priced from a current quote rather than assumed, for the reasons set out above.

A couple on a partner visa (subclass 309/100), arriving from the UK, shipping some belongings by sea, settling in Sydney: the visa charge is AUD 11,710 for the whole two-stage application, the largest single fixed cost most applicants will pay. Add to that, if used, a migration agent's fee (itself a market-set range — see above), two flights, a sea-freight shipment, several weeks of temporary accommodation, a rental bond and advance, health cover, and first-month living costs for two.

A family of four on an employer-sponsored subclass 482 visa, arriving from the Philippines, shipping a 20-foot container, settling in Brisbane: the visa charge is AUD 10,040 (AUD 4,015 for each adult plus AUD 1,005 for each child, as at 1 July 2026). Add four flights, a container shipment, temporary accommodation, a rental bond and advance, OVHC for the family, a car if one is bought, and first-month living costs for four.

The visa charge in each scenario is fixed and will not move once you know your subclass and family composition. Everything else is a planning estimate that depends on your specific choices, timing and provider, and adding these together into one headline number would create a precision the underlying figures don't have — get current quotes for the market-priced items before you rely on a total.

What is the minimum amount of money I need to move to Australia?

There is no single answer because it depends on your visa type, family size, and city. A solo skilled worker with a job lined up and minimal belongings will generally need much less than a family relocating with a household of goods to a capital city. The practical guide on how much money you need to move to Australia works through the line items for different scenarios.

Are moving expenses tax-deductible in Australia?

Generally, no. Moving expenses incurred when you first arrive in Australia are not tax-deductible because they are not connected to earning assessable income. However, if your employer reimburses or pays for relocation costs, the treatment of those payments for tax purposes depends on how they are structured. Consult a registered tax agent for advice on your specific situation.

Should I bring cash or transfer money electronically?

Electronic transfers are safer, cheaper (if you use a competitive provider), and do not trigger the physical cash declaration requirement. If you carry AUD 10,000 or more in physical cash or foreign currency equivalent into Australia, you must declare it to the Australian Border Force. There is no limit on how much you can transfer electronically. Your bank reports every international electronic transfer to AUSTRAC automatically, whatever the amount — the AUD 10,000 figure is the physical-cash rule, not a wire-transfer threshold — and you do not need to file anything yourself. Most migrants transfer the bulk of their savings electronically and carry only enough cash for the first day or two.

How far in advance should I start transferring money to Australia?

If you have opened a pre-arrival bank account, you can begin transferring funds as soon as you have the account details — there is no need to wait until after arrival. Transferring in stages rather than one large lump sum can help you take advantage of favourable exchange rates and reduces the risk of a single poorly-timed conversion.

Is Australia more expensive than the UK, US, or Canada?

Australia's cost of living is broadly comparable to the UK and Canada, and somewhat lower than the major US coastal cities (New York, San Francisco) but higher than most US cities overall. Groceries and dining out tend to be more expensive in Australia, while healthcare costs are lower for those eligible for Medicare. Housing costs in Sydney and Melbourne rival London and Vancouver, while Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth offer more affordable alternatives.