Visa and citizenship-related payments in Australia have become easier with a new cashless initiative now in place, according to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
Since April, the department has not accepted cash payments at its counters for visa or citizenship-related fees and charges. However, the new system does not impact the methods of payment available at Australian embassies or high commissions and visa applications centres outside Australia.
The cashless office initiative aims to make payments simpler and quicker. Applicants can pay using a credit or debit card, EFTPOS, a prepaid credit card, a cheque or a money order, but along with this comes a surcharge on all credit card payments for visa application charges. A DIBP spokesman the surcharge is in place to recover credit card merchant fees.
The surcharge will not apply to BPAY or EFTPOS payments, but it does apply to all applicants, whether they are applying for their visa in or outside Australia.
The current surcharge rates are 1.08% for Visa and MasterCard, 1.99% for American Express and JCB and 2.91% for Diners Club International.
A DIBP spokesman pointed out that the cost of visas changes from time to time. 'The cost of your visa is dependent on the date we receive your application. If there is a price increase between the date you lodge your application and the date we receive your application, you will need to pay the new application charge,' he explained.
The visa application charge is the amount of money in Australian dollars (AUD) that must be paid for a visa application. In some cases, the visa application charge is nil.
On its website, the department has a Visa Pricing Table which is divided into categories that correspond with what you plan to do in Australia. The categories defined in the Visa Pricing Table are visit, study, work, live, other and repealed or closed visas.