Commonwealth of Australia
Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189): total cost to complete
By Sam Parks · Last checked:
A source-linked budget for a single offshore points-tested subclass 189 applicant: the current Home Affairs visa application charge, skills assessment, English test, health exam, police certificates, and conditional biometrics/family charges separated from the fact that there is no general settlement-funds deposit.
What does the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) actually cost?
Mandatory non-refundable costs are A$7,501-A$8,705. Refundable proof-of-funds requirements are tracked separately at none tracked, because that money is shown or blocked rather than normally lost.
Verified against Home Affairs - current visa pricing table on 1 July 2026.
What it actually costs
A source-linked budget for a single offshore points-tested subclass 189 applicant: the current Home Affairs visa application charge, skills assessment, English test, health exam, police certificates, and conditional biometrics/family charges separated from the fact that there is no general settlement-funds deposit.
Money you don't get back
A$7,501-A$8,705
Mandatory fees, services and one month of insurance.
| Cost line | Amount | Type | When / who |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa application charge (points-tested primary applicant) | A$6,135 | Gov fee | Home Affairs current pricing table row for Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) - Points tested stream, effective 1 July 2026. Home Affairs - current visa pricing table |
| Skills assessment· indicative | A$550-A$1,200 | Service | Required before lodging the EOI for the relevant skilled occupation. Assessing-authority fees vary materially: ICT, engineering, trades, health and VET occupations use different bodies. Home Affairs - skills assessment requirement |
| English-language test· indicative | A$410-A$520 | Service | Common applicant case: approved secure-centre English test such as IELTS, PTE, TOEFL iBT, OET, CELPIP, C1 Advanced, MET or LANGUAGECERT. Some passport/evidence scenarios may reduce this to zero. Home Affairs - English language visa requirements |
| Immigration health examination· indicative | A$350-A$650 | Service | Permanent visa applicants usually need health examinations. Panel-physician fees vary by country and exam components. Home Affairs - health requirement |
| Police certificates / character documents· indicative | A$56-A$200 | Service | Character evidence is required and Home Affairs may ask for police certificates. Australian AFP checks and overseas certificates vary by country and by fingerprint/non-fingerprint route. Home Affairs - character requirements for visas |
| Biometrics collection where requested(optional)· indicative | A$0-A$120 | Service | Conditional on country, applicant history and collection channel. Treat as a country-specific cash-flow item rather than a universal 189 charge. Home Affairs - biometrics |
| Document translation / certification(optional)· indicative | A$0-A$300 | Service | Conditional: only needed where documents are not in English or the assessing authority requires certified copies. Country-specific - verify by document language and assessing authority |
| Additional applicant charge (18+)(optional) | A$3,070per adult | Gov fee | Optional family-scaling line for each adult additional applicant in the points-tested stream. Home Affairs - current visa pricing table |
| Additional applicant charge (under 18)(optional) | A$1,540per child | Gov fee | Optional family-scaling line for each child additional applicant in the points-tested stream. Home Affairs - current visa pricing table |
| Second instalment for adult without functional English(optional) | A$4,885per adult applicant | Gov fee | Charged only where an applicant aged 18 or over is assessed as not having functional English at visa grant. Home Affairs - current visa pricing table |
Baseline sunk cost is the current subclass 189 points-tested primary-applicant VAC plus one skills assessment, one English test, a health-exam range, and a police-certificate range for a single applicant. There is no general Home Affairs settlement-funds deposit for subclass 189, so no refundable proof-of-funds line is shown. Optional dependant, second-instalment, biometrics, translation, migration-agent and occupation-specific licensing costs are excluded from the baseline unless the user chooses them. Last checked 1 July 2026.
Cite or reuse this dataset
This cost model is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite Visa Atlas for the compiled sunk/refundable split and cite each linked authority or provider source for the underlying line item.
Suggested citation
Visa Atlas, "Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) cost-to-complete model", https://visaatlas.org/cost-to-complete/australia-189-skilled-independent. Last verified 1 July 2026.
- JSON endpoint
- https://visaatlas.org/api/public/cost-to-complete
FAQs
What does the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) actually cost to complete?
Mandatory non-refundable costs are A$7,501-A$8,705 in the current model. Separately, refundable proof-of-funds requirements are none tracked. The line table explains each item and source.
Is proof of funds a sunk cost?
No. Proof of funds is money you must show, hold or block. It can still be a cash-flow barrier, but it is different from application fees, document costs and insurance payments that you do not normally get back.
Why are some lines marked indicative?
Some third-party costs vary by country, provider and document count. Those lines use a range and are marked indicative so they are not confused with a single government tariff.