Fees will increase by 15% for most applications - students and visitors exempt. In the Economic Statement paper, there is no discussion or rationale for the increase. Whilst we see additional expenditure in the Immigration portfolio for asylum seeker processing and detention, no initiatives have been announced to improve visa processing for the applicants affected by the fee increases. When looking at Immigration Department annual reports, the cost of processing visa applications is already covered by application fees collected. It is fairly clear that family sponsored and economic stream applicants are heavily subsidising processing and detention of asylum seekers. It is also of concern that no Regulation Impact Statement has been done on the effect of the fee increases. The stated reason is because the measures are "primarily revenue in nature". Given the increase is significant, and comes on top of a series of previous fee increases, there is no doubt that the change will impact on businesses, education providers and individuals.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 23:45:04 +0000
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