Recently the Australian Government revealed their Budget and naturally in a game of pluses and minuses in order to balance the nation’s books, there’d be winners and losers. Unfortunately my dear readers, we are the losers in this one.

Not only will the fees for partner visa applications go up on 1 July 2017, they’ll continue to go up every year in line with inflation.

Here’s what we know:

From 1 July 2017 all current VACs will be indexed annually in line with the forecast Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rounded to the nearest $5.

That’s right folks, for ALL visa classes. But there are a few exceptions that I assume the Australian government wants us to be thankful for:

• The indexation only applies to the 1^st instalment component of the VAC.
• Indexation does not apply to 2^nd instalment VACs.
• The indexation of 1st instalment VACs applies to both primary and secondary applicants.

As you can see this indexing also applies to applications where there are dependents i.e. where you want to bring you children along with you to Australia. In short, everything is going up!

Now I don’t need to keep reminding you that ‘visa application fees are almost $7,000’ because tragically, this state has come to pass. And every 1 July will a painful reminder that the Australian Government sees your relationship as a cash cow that it can keep milking for a quick injection of cash.

The visa application charges will apply to partner visa applications lodged on or after 1 July 2017.

For those who are almost ready with lodging your applications, I urge you to get it in before 1 July. There’s still time and if you’ve thought about an application review then get in quick. For deadlines such as these I’ll work double time to get you your reviews in time.

For those that aren’t ready yet but can’t afford the increase, have a read of my article on incomplete applications.

I am very disappointed and disheartened at the recent immigration changes and I’m sure I’m not alone in this. The only solace I can see from this is that fee increases are now more predictable and can be planned and accounted for. For instances, if you miss this July 2017 deadline and you know that generally the Consumer Price Index is between 2-3% then you can budget that little bit extra for your partner visa application fee.

I wish I had better news my dear readers. Please keep working on your applications and don’t be disheartened by this, Australia is a great country to live in and to build a new life with your partner. This is simply the bureaucratic hurdle and red tape that you must cut through before a better life can begin.

In other news I am in the middle of writing the 2^nd edition of The Australian Partner Visa Guide that will expand upon what we’ve learnt over the year and will incorporate all the changes that I’ve been updating about throughout the year.

The full factsheet is here: https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/budget/visa-price-increase-fact-sheet-2017-18.pdf

The Reserve Bank of Australia on Consumer Price Index