Functional English and the second instalment: who pays it, how much, the five ways to prove functional English, and when to sit the test

MARN 1576536

What the charge is and where it comes from

The visa application charge for most permanent visas is set in Schedule 1 of the Regulations in two instalments: the first, paid at lodgement for every applicant, which is the figure on the fees page; and the second, which for the skilled, employer-sponsored and business visas is payable only for an applicant aged 18 or over who does not have functional English, and is payable before the visa is granted. The second instalment was introduced to fund English language tuition for migrants who arrive without it, and the amount is set by the Department and indexed on 1 July each year with the other charges; in recent program years it has been a little under five thousand dollars per person, and the fees page carries the current figure where it is published. It is a charge on the application rather than a penalty: an application in which it is payable is granted when it is paid, and an application in which functional English is shown is granted without it. The Department assesses it late, when the application is otherwise decided, which is why most families meet it as a surprise months after lodgement, and why the time to deal with it is at lodgement.

Who it applies to, and who it does not

The charge applies to each applicant on the application who is aged 18 or over at the relevant time and who does not have functional English when the Department assesses it: in practice the partner of the primary applicant, an adult dependent child, and, on a visa where the primary applicant is not required to have functional English, the primary applicant too. The visas that carry it are the permanent skilled visas, the 189, 190 and 191, the employer-sponsored 186 and the regional 494 and the 482 in the streams that charge it, the business and investor visas, and some others, each listed in Schedule 1 with its own second instalment line; the partner visas, the child visas, the family visas and the humanitarian visas carry no functional English charge, and the contributory parent visas carry a second instalment of a different kind which the parent section covers. A child under 18 at the relevant time is not charged, and a child who turns 18 during a long processing period is read against the Regulations' wording on when the age is assessed, which the consultation checks for the application. The primary applicant on a skilled visa proved competent or better English at the invitation, which is above functional, and pays nothing; the charge is for the family members whose English was never tested.

What functional English means

Functional English is the lowest level the migration program defines, below vocational, competent, proficient and superior, and it describes an adult who can manage daily life in English rather than one who can work professionally in it. On the tests it is an average band score of 4.5 in IELTS, an overall score of 30 in PTE Academic, 32 in TOEFL iBT and 147 in the Cambridge test, as the Department publishes them, and the Occupational English Test is accepted at the grade the instrument sets; the component scores are not individually required at this level in the ordinary case, and the average or overall figure governs. By comparison, the competent English the primary applicant needed was 6 in each IELTS band or 50 in each PTE component, so a partner who has been living and working in Australia on the primary applicant's temporary visa and speaking English every day reaches functional with little or no preparation, and a partner who has lived in a non-English household abroad with no schooling in English may not. The level is set so that most adults who are willing to sit a test will pass it, which is the point: the charge is for those who will not or cannot.

The five ways to prove it

The Department accepts functional English on any of five kinds of evidence, read against its published list. First, in the ordinary case, a valid passport of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland, which is accepted without a test. Second, education in English: completion of all years of primary education and at least three years of secondary education at an institution where the instruction was in English, or completion of secondary education and at least one year of full-time tertiary study in English, with the transcripts and a letter from the institution confirming the language of instruction where the country's schooling is not in English by default. Third, a qualification: a degree, higher degree, diploma or trade certificate that required at least two years of full-time study at an institution in Australia or overseas where the instruction was in English, with the award and the transcript, and for an overseas institution a letter confirming the medium of instruction. Fourth, an assessment from the Adult Migrant English Program that the person has functional English, which a provider issues after assessing a person who has enrolled. Fifth, a test at the functional level within the period the Department specifies. The evidence is uploaded to the application as evidence of English for the family member, and an applicant who has any of the first four at lodgement uploads it then and never receives the request; the Department reads the evidence against the list in force when the charge is assessed, and a document that does not say what the list requires, a transcript without the language of instruction, a passport that has expired, is the common reason a family with the evidence still gets the request.

The test: scores, which test, and how recent

For a family member without the education or the passport, the test is the route. The accepted tests are those the Department lists for functional English, which include IELTS in either the academic or the general training module, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, the Cambridge C1 Advanced test and the Occupational English Test, at the scores the functional section gives; PTE and IELTS are booked within days in most Australian cities and in most countries, the result follows within days for PTE and about two weeks for IELTS, and the fee is a fraction of the charge. The result must be recent when the Department assesses the charge: the Department reads a test taken within the period it specifies before the assessment, which in its published practice is the twelve months before, so a test taken two years before lodgement for another purpose may not be accepted, and a family that intends to rely on a test sits it either shortly before lodgement, so the result is on the file, or when the request arrives, within the period to pay. The English scores guide sets out the scores at each level for each test, and a partner who sits the test and reaches competent or better has evidence that may also carry partner points on a later skilled application, which is a separate matter the partner points guide covers.

When the Department asks, and the period to pay

The Department assesses functional English and, where it is not shown, requests the second instalment when the application is otherwise ready to be granted: health and character cleared, the criteria met, the decision made in substance. The request is a letter in the ImmiAccount with the amount, the applicants it applies to, the period to pay, commonly 28 days, and the payment method, and the visa is granted once payment is recorded; an applicant who instead uploads evidence of functional English within the period and asks the Department to reassess has the charge reduced to nil if the evidence is accepted. The period is the practical difficulty: a family that has never thought about the charge has four weeks to find the money or to sit a test and get the result, which is possible with PTE and tight with IELTS, and a family that asks in writing for a short extension before the period ends to allow a test result to arrive is usually given it, though not as of right. The request often arrives when the primary applicant is overseas, or the family has moved, and an ImmiAccount that is not checked is the way a period is missed.

If it is not paid

The charge cannot be waived on hardship or any other ground, cannot be reduced except to nil on evidence of functional English, and cannot be paid by instalments or after grant. An application in which the second instalment is not paid within the period, and in which functional English is not shown, is refused on that ground: the visa cannot be granted while the charge is unpaid, and the Department does not hold an application open indefinitely. The refusal is a refusal, with the first instalment lost, the bridging visa ending in the ordinary way, the section 48 bar applying to a further onshore application, and a new application requiring a new first instalment for every applicant; a family that cannot pay within the period and cannot get a test result in time asks for the extension in writing before the period ends, and if it is refused, decides between paying by any means and sitting the test, because the alternative is the refusal of the whole application including the primary applicant. A family member who cannot reach functional English and for whom the charge cannot be paid can be withdrawn from the application before the period ends, which removes the charge for them and leaves the rest of the family to be granted, at the cost of that person's visa; it is a last resort and it is read with advice.

The refund

The second instalment is refunded where it was paid and the visa is not granted: a refusal after payment, a withdrawal after payment in the ordinary case, and the death of the applicant before decision, on application in the form the refund guide describes, and the refund is to the person who paid. An application withdrawn before the second instalment falls due never incurs it, which is one reason to withdraw a doomed application before the request rather than after payment. The first instalment is not refunded on refusal or withdrawal except in the narrow circumstances the Regulations list, and a family deciding whether to pay the second instalment on an application it fears will be refused on another ground reads that the second instalment, unlike the first, comes back. The refund guide sets out the grounds and the form.

The contributory parent visas’ different second instalment

The phrase second instalment confuses families with a parent application in train, because the contributory parent visas, the 143, 173, 864 and 884, charge a second instalment to every applicant regardless of English, and it is the large part of the contributory charge, tens of thousands of dollars per parent, payable before grant after the years in the queue; a parent with functional English pays it in full, and a parent without functional English pays it and no separate functional English charge on top in the ordinary case. The non-contributory parent visas, the 103 and 804, carry their own second instalment at a much lower figure. None of this is the functional English charge, which belongs to the skilled, employer and business visas, and the parent visa guide sets out the contributory amounts. A family with both a parent application and a skilled application reads each charge against its own visa.

The English tuition the charge was meant to fund

The second instalment was introduced to fund English tuition for migrants arriving without functional English, through the Adult Migrant English Program, and for many years paying it was the way a family member became entitled to the tuition. The program has since been opened to eligible permanent residents and some temporary visa holders without a cap on hours and without charge, whether or not the second instalment was paid, so the charge now funds the program generally rather than buying the payer a place in it; a family member who pays the charge and a family member who proved functional English by a test are both eligible to enrol after arrival, within the program's registration periods, and the program's own assessment is also one of the five ways to prove functional English for a later application. A family member who intends to improve their English after the grant enrols in the program through a provider in their state, and the charge, paid or avoided, makes no difference to that.

The second instalment checklist

1. At lodgement, list every applicant aged 18 or over and ask of each: passport of an English-speaking country, schooling in English, tertiary study in English, an AMEP assessment, or none.
2. Upload the evidence for each who has it, with the language of instruction stated by the institution where it is not obvious.
3. For each who has none, book a PTE or IELTS test close to lodgement, or plan to sit it when the request arrives; the functional level is low.
4. Budget the charge for anyone who will not sit a test, at the current figure on the fees page, and know that it cannot be waived or split.
5. Watch the ImmiAccount for the request; it comes when the application is otherwise ready, and the period is commonly 28 days.
6. On the request, either pay or upload the evidence and ask for reassessment; ask in writing for an extension before the period ends if a test result is pending.
7. If the visa is refused or withdrawn after payment, claim the refund.
8. Do not confuse it with the contributory parent visas’ second instalment, which is a different and much larger charge.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. The visa application charge provisions in Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations 1994, the definition of functional English in regulation 5.17 and the instruments specifying the tests and scores, the Department’s published evidence requirements and charge amounts as indexed on 1 July, the refund provisions in regulation 2.12F, and the Immigration (Education) Act 1971 and the Adult Migrant English Program as administered, all as in force at the date above; the amounts and the accepted evidence change and the Department’s request governs. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.