Fees · What agents charge
How much does a migration agent cost in Australia?
Agent fees are not set by the government, most firms do not publish them, and the same visa can be quoted at three very different prices. This page explains what you are paying for, what moves the price, and what the Code of Conduct requires before any money changes hands. WIDEN’s own fees are on the page, in numbers, so you have something to compare against.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Consultation at WIDEN
- $330 / 30 min, $550 / 60 min, credited
- Set by
- Each agent; not the government
- In writing first
- Code of Conduct requires it
- Government charges
- Always separate, never refunded
- Published
- 29 October 2026
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The consultation is the only fee you pay before you know what the whole thing will cost.
Thirty minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain: your documents read, a straight answer on the pathway, and a written fee estimate for the work if there is a case to run. If there is not, you hear that in the session and pay nothing more.
What it costs. $330 inc. GST for 30 minutes, $550 for 60, credited in full against our professional fee if you engage WIDEN. Advice confirmed in writing after the session.
What you are paying for
A migration agent's fee buys time on your file by a person who is registered to give immigration assistance and bound by a Code of Conduct. In practice that time goes on four things: working out which visa, if any, your facts support; reading your documents against the exact legal criteria rather than the general idea of them; assembling and lodging an application that answers those criteria; and dealing with the Department when it asks for more. It does not buy the outcome. No registered agent can promise a visa, and one who does is breaching the Code.
Three separate amounts make up the total, and a quote that blurs them is a warning sign: the professional fee, the government's visa application charge, and third-party costs such as a skills assessment, health examination, police certificates and translations.
The consultation
Most registered agents charge for the first meeting, typically somewhere between a token amount and a few hundred dollars, and many credit it if you proceed. WIDEN charges A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes or A$550 for 60 minutes, by video, credited in full against the engagement fee. The session is where the pathway is decided and the fee estimate is produced, so it is the one fee worth paying before anything else. A free consultation is not prohibited; it is just usually a sales conversation rather than advice, and the advice is what you came for.
Professional fees by visa
These are WIDEN's indicative professional fees, ex GST, for the visa application itself, as published on the fees page and updated 2026-10-12. Other firms' published 2026 ranges sit roughly at A$2,000 to A$8,000 for skilled and employer-sponsored visas, A$2,500 to A$6,500 for partner visas, and A$3,000 to A$15,000 for a refusal review, with capital-city firms at the upper end. Every WIDEN matter is confirmed in a written estimate after the consultation and fixed once agreed.
| Visa or matter | WIDEN professional fee | Government charge |
|---|---|---|
| 482 Skills in Demand visa Employer side: Sponsorship approval $1,000–1,500 + GST; nomination $2,500 + GST | $2,200–3,000 + GST (main applicant; family +$500 each) | A$4,015 main applicant; nomination A$330 |
| 186 Employer Nomination Scheme | $3,000–4,000 + GST (visa); nomination $3,500 + GST | A$6,140 |
| 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional | $3,000–3,500 + GST (visa); nomination $3,000 + GST | A$6,140 |
| 407 Training visa | $1,500–2,000 + GST (visa); nomination packs $1,000–2,800 + GST | A$535 |
| 189 Skilled Independent | $3,500–5,000 + GST incl. EOI (family +$500 each) | A$6,135 |
| 190 Skilled Nominated | $3,500–5,000 + GST incl. EOI and state nomination (family +$500 each) | A$6,140 |
| 491 Skilled Work Regional | $3,500–5,000 + GST incl. EOI and nomination (family +$500 each) | A$6,140 |
| Skills assessment preparation (TRA, VETASSESS, ACS, Engineers Australia) | $1,500–3,000 + GST | assessing body's own fee |
| Partner 820/801 (onshore, both stages) | $4,500–6,500 + GST | A$11,710 |
| Partner 309/100 (offshore) | $4,500–6,500 + GST | A$11,710 |
| 500 Student visa | $1,500–2,500 + GST | A$2,500 |
| 485 Temporary Graduate | $1,500–2,000 + GST | A$2,265–5,750 by stream |
| Contributory Parent 143/173 | $4,000–5,000 + GST | A$4,040 first instalment + A$43,600 second instalment per parent |
| Parent 103/804 | $3,500–4,500 + GST | A$6,600 |
| Sponsored Parent (Temporary) 870 | $2,000–2,500 + GST | A$6,370 (3 years) or A$12,440 (5 years) |
| 600 Visitor visa | $800–1,200 + GST | A$250 offshore; A$630 onshore |
| Refusal: review at the Administrative Review Tribunal | $5,000–8,000 + GST | ART application fee separate |
| Section 56 request or s57 natural-justice response on a lodged file | $1,500–3,000 + GST | — |
Where a client's circumstances are genuinely compassionate or compelling, WIDEN may reduce its fee; tell us at the consultation.
Government charges on top
The Department of Home Affairs charges its own application fee for every visa, paid at lodgement and not refunded if the visa is refused. From 1 July 2026 the main-applicant charges include A$4,015 for a 482, A$6,135 for a 189, A$6,140 for a 190, 491, 494 or 186, A$11,710 for a partner visa and A$2,500 for a student visa, with additional charges for each family member. Employers pay the nomination charge and the Skilling Australians Fund levy, and it is unlawful for a worker to be asked to pay those. The full table is on Australian visa fees 2026.
What moves the price
- Family members. Each adds documents, health and character checks and, for some visas, their own criteria. WIDEN adds $500 per family member on most visas.
- A refusal, cancellation or gap in the history. The file now has to answer the earlier problem as well as the current criteria. This is the single biggest driver of price, and the reason a second application costs more than the first.
- Deadlines. A review lodged with days to spare, or a visa expiring next week, costs more because the work is compressed and other work is moved.
- Evidence that does not exist yet. A skills assessment to obtain, employment references to chase overseas, a relationship history to document. The agent's fee rises with the hours; the third-party costs rise too.
- Scope. Preparing an application is one job; running the sponsor, the nomination and the visa is three. A quote should say which.
What the Code requires
The Migration Agents Code of Conduct requires a written estimate of fees and a written agreement before work starts, an itemised account for what is charged, no guarantee of an outcome, and money held for government charges kept separately until it is paid to the Department. If an agent takes a fee without a written agreement, or quotes one figure and invoices another without a change of scope, those are matters for the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. The practical test is simple: you should hold a written estimate, with the government charges on their own line, before you pay anything beyond the consultation.
When you do not need an agent
You are entitled to lodge your own application, and for a case with one obvious pathway, complete documents and no history, many people do. The agent's fee earns its keep where there are several possible pathways and the choice matters, where the documents do not obviously meet the criteria, where there has been a refusal or a gap, where an employer is involved and the nomination has to be built, or where a mistake costs a non-refundable charge and a year. A written pathway check at $550, with no call, exists for the case in between: one applicant, one answer in writing, and then you decide. See the written pathway check.
Warning signs on price
- A guaranteed visa, or a success rate, at any price.
- A fee for finding you a sponsor, or any payment for sponsorship itself. Asking a worker to pay for sponsorship is a criminal offence for the person asking.
- No MARN, or one you cannot find on the OMARA register.
- Cash, or payment to a personal or overseas account.
- A single number with no breakdown between professional fee and government charges.
- A price far below everyone else's for a case with a refusal in it.
How to check the register and the other red flags are in how to choose a migration agent.
Book a consultation — $330 inc. GST, credited
General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. WIDEN fees are indicative and confirmed in a written estimate; other firms' ranges are as published by those firms in 2026 and are not WIDEN's. Government charges are the Department of Home Affairs' charges from 1 July 2026. No registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
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How much is a migration agent consultation in Australia?
Most registered agents charge for the first meeting. WIDEN charges A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes or A$550 for 60 minutes, by video, credited in full against the professional fee if you go ahead. Be wary of a free consultation that turns into a sales call: the Code of Conduct does not stop it, but the advice you need usually is not in it.
How much does a migration agent charge for a 482 visa?
Fees are set by each agent, not by the government. WIDEN's published figure is $2,200 to $3,000 + GST for the main applicant's visa application, with the employer's nomination at $2,500 + GST and sponsorship approval at $1,000 to $1,500 + GST, all separate from the Department's own charges (A$4,015 for the main applicant, A$330 for the nomination).
How much does a migration agent charge for a partner visa?
WIDEN's published range is $4,500 to $6,500 + GST for both stages of an 820/801 or 309/100, on top of the Department's A$11,710 application charge. Other firms publish 2026 ranges of roughly $2,500 to $6,500, more for a case with a refusal history or Schedule 3.
Are government visa charges included in the agent's fee?
No, never. The visa application charge is paid to the Department of Home Affairs and is not refunded on refusal. Every estimate should show it on its own line. The full list of charges from 1 July 2026 is on the Australian visa fees page.
Can I pay a migration agent in instalments?
Many agents stage fees by step: a payment when the sponsorship or nomination is lodged, another when the visa is lodged. What the Code of Conduct requires is that the fee and the stages are in a written agreement before work starts, and that money held for government charges is kept in a clients' account.
Is a cheaper migration agent a worse one?
Not necessarily, but a price that is far below the others usually means less time on the file, and time on the file is what a visa application is. The things that cost money are reading your documents properly, matching them to the exact criteria, and answering the Department's questions. Check the MARN on the OMARA register before price.
What does WIDEN charge?
The consultation is A$330 or A$550 inc. GST, credited. Indicative professional fees for each visa are on this page and on the fees page, and every matter is confirmed in a written estimate after the consultation and fixed once agreed.
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