Australia Student Visa Fee Calculator (2026 Rules)

Short answer. An Australian Student visa (subclass 500) costs AUD 2,500 for the main applicant. Since 2 October 2026, most students cannot include a partner or children at all. PhD students and fully funded government scholars still can, at AUD 1,530 per adult and AUD 500 per child.

Australia Student Visa Fee Calculator

Your course

How your study is funded

Partner coming with you

Children under 18 coming with you

Exchange rate (₹ per AUD)

An example rate. Enter today’s.

Can your family be included?

Your visa charge

Family members’ charges

Total visa charges

In rupees

Partner’s work rights

Choose your course.

Uses the Department of Home Affairs visa pricing table and the Student visa family rules that apply to applications lodged from 2 October 2026, checked in October 2026, for an Indian passport holder applying from outside Australia. Health checks, police certificates, biometrics and health cover are extra.

What a Student visa costs

Home Affairs charges a base fee for the main applicant and a separate charge for each family member included in the application. English language (ELICOS) students pay a lower rate.

Applicant	Most students	ELICOS students
Main applicant	AUD 2,500	AUD 2,050
Each family member 18 or over	AUD 1,530	AUD 1,255
Each family member under 18	AUD 500	AUD 410
Extra charge if you apply from inside Australia	AUD 700	AUD 700

Department of Home Affairs, current visa pricing table, Student visa (subclass 500), October 2026. The inside-Australia charge is the subsequent temporary application charge, which may be payable.

The charge is paid when you lodge, and Home Affairs does not usually refund it, even if the visa is refused or the application is withdrawn. At AUD 2,500, a refusal costs roughly ₹1.45 lakh before you count the time lost, so lodge only when your funds evidence and Genuine Student answers are ready.

The family rule that changed on 2 October 2026

For applications lodged from 2 October 2026, most Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner or dependent children. Family members also cannot apply later as subsequent entrants, in any circumstance. Home Affairs lists four exemptions:

PhD students. It must be a doctoral degree. A master’s by research does not count.
Students sponsored by DFAT or the Department of Defence.
Foreign government scholarship recipients, where the scholarship fully funds your studies in Australia.
Eligible Pacific Island and ASEAN nationals, which does not cover Indian passport holders.

For most Indian students, that leaves the PhD route or a fully funded government scholarship. Applications lodged before 2 October 2026 are assessed under the old rules, and students who already have family on their visa may be able to keep them on a further visa in limited cases, such as needing up to 12 more months to finish the same course.

The same reforms mean most students must now lodge from outside Australia and be outside Australia when the visa is granted. Moving from a completed course to a higher level course is one of the exemptions that still allows an application from inside Australia.

Faz's rule
If your plan depends on your partner coming, check the family rule before you pay a deposit.
Married applicants used to pick Australia because a partner could come and work 48 hours a fortnight. For a coursework master’s that option has gone, and there is no way to add your partner after the visa is granted. If you need your family with you, the realistic choices are a PhD, a fully funded government scholarship, a second Student visa for your partner on their own course, or a different country.

For the full picture on family, including what exempt students’ partners can do, read our Australia student visa and family guide, and compare the family rules country by country. The visa process itself is in our Australia student visa guide. The fee is small next to the money you must show, which the proof of funds calculator works out.

Questions people ask

What is the Australia student visa fee in 2026?

AUD 2,500 for the main applicant on most courses, or AUD 2,050 for an English language (ELICOS) course. It is roughly ₹1.45 lakh at ₹58 to the Australian dollar.

Can I take my wife or husband to Australia on a student visa?

Only if you are a PhD student, sponsored by DFAT or Defence, or on a foreign government scholarship that fully funds your studies. For applications lodged from 2 October 2026, other students cannot include family.

Can my family join me later in Australia?

Not as your dependants. Home Affairs says family members cannot be added to a Student visa after it is granted, with no exemptions. They would need a visa of their own.

How much is the visa fee for a family member?

AUD 1,530 for each family member aged 18 or over and AUD 500 for each child under 18, where the family is allowed to be included.

Is the Australian visa fee refunded if I am refused?

Usually not. Home Affairs says it does not usually refund the visa application charge, even if the application is refused or withdrawn.

Where these rules come from

Checked in October 2026. Australian visa charges usually change on 1 July; the amount shown when you lodge is what you pay.