What it costs to migrate with a partner and children

Bringing a partner and children into one visa application changes the cost in more than one place. The main government charge is only the starting point. Extra applicant charges, medicals, police certificates, translations and professional fees can add up quickly, and the total often looks higher than people first expect.

This guide breaks those costs into parts so the arithmetic is easier to follow. It is general information about how family migration costs are usually built, not advice about any person’s visa options or eligibility.

The total is usually made up of five separate buckets#

When a visa application includes family members, the total cost often comes from five buckets.

First, there is the visa application charge itself. Many visas have a base charge for the main applicant, then extra charges for each additional applicant. The extra charge can differ depending on whether the additional applicant is an adult or a child.

Second, there are health and character costs. Medical examinations are charged per person by approved panel clinics, not by the Department. Police certificates are also usually charged per certificate, per country, per person.

Third, there are document costs. These can include translations, certified copies, passport photos and sometimes replacement civil documents such as birth or marriage certificates.

Fourth, there can be professional fees if a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner is engaged. These fees are separate from Department charges and separate from third-party costs such as medicals and police checks.

Fifth, some families also face practical costs outside the application itself. Examples include travel to a medical clinic, courier charges, passport renewals and time off work. These are easy to miss because they do not appear on the Department’s payment screen.

If a family wants a rough starting point before speaking to an agent, the ਲਾਗਤ ਅਨੁਮਾਨਕ can help organise the main categories.

Additional applicant charges are often the biggest jump#

For many family-based applications, the largest increase comes from adding people to the application. A partner is usually charged as an additional adult applicant. Children are usually charged as additional child applicants. The child amount is often lower than the adult amount, but it still needs to be counted for each child included.

That means the arithmetic is not just one visa fee plus a few small extras. It is often:

• main applicant charge
• plus partner additional applicant charge
• plus one child additional applicant charge for each child
• plus any later-stage charge if it applies to that visa stream

Some visas also have different charging points. In some programs, part of the amount is paid at lodgement and another part is only payable later if the application reaches a certain stage. The exact structure depends on the visa subclass and the current Department settings on the relevant visa page.

A simple way to build the estimate is line by line. For example, a family of four might count one main applicant, one additional adult and two additional children, then add the per-person third-party costs afterwards. That approach makes it easier to see which items are fixed and which rise with each extra family member.

Medicals and police certificates are usually per person#

Health and character costs can be a major part of the total for a partner-and-children application because they are usually repeated across the family group.

Medical examinations are commonly required for each person included in the application, including children. The exact tests can vary by age, country history and the visa program. A small child may not need the same tests as an adult, but there is still usually some cost for each person who must attend a panel clinic.

Police certificates can also multiply quickly. Adults usually need them more often than children, but the total depends on where each adult has lived and for how long. If one partner has lived in three countries and the other has lived in one, the police certificate cost is not just "two people", it may be four separate certificates or more.

Those certificates are paid to the issuing authority, not to the Department. Timeframes also vary widely. Some are inexpensive and fast, while others take longer, need fingerprints or identity documents, and cost more once postage or agency processing is added.

If a document or certificate is false or altered, that can raise serious legal problems. The Migration Act includes offences about false documents in s234 and s245AR, and Public Interest Criterion 4020 can also become relevant in some cases. That is one reason families often budget time as well as money for gathering records carefully.

Translations, civil documents and identity records can surprise people#

Translation costs are one of the most commonly underestimated parts of a family application. If documents are not in English, each document usually needs to be translated. With a partner and children, that can mean multiple birth certificates, a marriage certificate, identity records, custody documents, school records or police certificates.

Translators often charge by page, by word, or by document type. A short birth certificate may be inexpensive, while a longer court order or household register can cost much more. If several family members have documents from the same country, the translation bill can become significant even before the visa is lodged.

Civil document replacement can also add cost. If a birth certificate is missing, damaged or not in the required form, a new official copy may need to be ordered from the registry that issued it. The same issue can arise with marriage certificates, divorce records, change-of-name records and passports nearing expiry.

Families also sometimes need certified copies, passport photographs and postage. None of these items is large on its own, but together they can add a noticeable amount to the final total.

Professional fees, and how they are usually charged#

Professional fees are separate from government and third-party costs. For partner-and-children matters, fees often reflect the amount of work involved in preparing forms, checking identity and relationship documents, reviewing family member records and managing requests for further information.

In broad terms, professional fees for straightforward family applications are often quoted as a fixed fee or a staged fee. More complex matters, such as large document sets, overseas dependants in different countries, health or character complications, or urgent deadlines, can increase the quote. Some firms and agents quote a single package price, while others separate professional fees from disbursements such as translations and police checks.

Under the Migration Agents Code of Conduct 2021, a registered migration agent must give a consumer guide before starting work, s38. The fee arrangement must be set out in a written agreement, s42, and the agreement must explain the fee structure, s46. An agent must also give invoices and receipts, s49, and cannot take money before the agreement is in place, s51.

Advertising also has rules. A registered migration agent’s advertising must include their MARN, s25, and they cannot guarantee a result, s26. If help is being offered for immigration matters, it is worth checking that the provider is properly registered or is an Australian legal practitioner, because giving immigration assistance while unregistered can be a criminal offence under s280, and charging for it can breach s281. VisaBid’s operator check page explains what to look for.

A worked example of how families can add the numbers up#

The safest way to budget is to use a worksheet and count the family one person at a time. Start with the items that are tied to the visa, then move to the items that are tied to each individual.

A basic structure can look like this:

• one main applicant visa charge
• one additional adult applicant charge
• ਹਰ ਬੱਚੇ ਲਈ ਇੱਕ ਵਾਧੂ child applicant charge
• medical costs for each family member who needs them
• police certificate costs for each adult, for each relevant country
• translations for each non-English document
• replacement civil documents if needed
• professional fees, if a registered migration agent or lawyer is engaged
• travel, postage and other practical expenses

Here is a simple example without using dollar figures. A couple with two children might have four medicals, police certificates for one or two adults across several countries, four birth-related identity documents, a marriage certificate, school or custody material for a child in some cases, and a set of translations for each non-English document. If an agent is engaged, the quote may include professional fees plus a list of disbursements. The total can therefore be much more than "one visa fee plus kids".

This is why line-item quotes are useful. On VisaBid, families can describe the case and get quotes from registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners, then compare how each quote separates professional fees from third-party expenses. That makes it easier to see whether medicals, police checks and translations are included as estimates, excluded entirely, or billed later as they arise.

Common questions#

How much more does it cost to add a partner and children to a visa application?#

Usually the total increases in more than one layer. There is often an extra Department charge for each additional applicant, then separate per-person costs for medicals and sometimes police certificates. If documents are not in English, translations can also rise with each family member.

Do children need medicals and police checks for Australian visa applications?#

Children are often included in health requirements, so medical costs can still apply to each child. Police certificates are more commonly relevant to adults, but the exact position depends on the visa process, age and personal history. The Department instructions for the specific visa subclass set out what is requested.

Are translations and birth certificates included in migration agent fees?#

Sometimes, but not always. Some agents quote only their professional fee and list translations, replacement certificates and other third-party costs separately. Under the Code, the fee structure must be explained in the written agreement, s42 and s46, so the quote should show what is included and what is not.

Can someone help with a family visa if they are not a registered migration agent?#

In Australia, giving immigration assistance while unregistered can be a criminal offence under s280 of the Migration Act 1958. Charging for that unregistered assistance can also breach s281. If paid help is being offered, check whether the person is a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner, and read the consumer guide before engaging them.

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About this guide. This is general information about how a process works in Australia. It is not immigration assistance and it is not advice about your situation. Under section 280 of the Migration Act 1958 only a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner can give you that. Government charges are indexed and most change on 1 July, so check any figure at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, and check any agent on the OMARA register.