Visa Cost Calculator
The full cost of a visa or residency application for a household.
A visa fee is the visible part of an application. Photographs, biometric appointments, translations, certified copies, medical examinations, police certificates and courier fees all arrive in the same weeks, and for a family they multiply.
Enter the fees and the per-person costs for everyone applying, and this calculator gives the real total, what each applicant costs and what to budget per month if you are saving towards it.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Government fee per person, People applying, Medical examination per person, Biometrics and photographs per person, Translations and certified copies per person, Other per-person costs, Agent or legal fee, Sponsor or sponsorship fee, Courier and other one-off costs, Months to save before applying
- What you get
- Total cost of the application, Cost per applicant, Monthly saving needed, Likely non-refundable amount
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Visa Cost Calculator
- 1 Enter Government fee per person
- 2 Enter People applying (people)
- 3 Enter Medical examination per person
- 4 Enter Biometrics and photographs per person
- 5 Enter Translations and certified copies per person
- 6 Enter Other per-person costs - Police certificates, insurance, travel to the appointment.
- 7 Enter Agent or legal fee
- 8 Enter Sponsor or sponsorship fee
- 9 Enter Courier and other one-off costs
- 10 Enter Months to save before applying (months)
- 11 Press Calculate. You get Total cost of the application, Cost per applicant, Monthly saving needed, Likely non-refundable amount, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 12 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A two person application with an agent
$500 government fees each, an agent at $1,200 and six months to prepare.
You enter
- Government fee per person
- $500.00
- People applying
- 2 people
- Medical examination per person
- $150.00
- Biometrics and photographs per person
- $60.00
- Translations and certified copies per person
- $80.00
- Other per-person costs
- $40.00
- Agent or legal fee
- $1,200.00
- Sponsor or sponsorship fee
- $0.00
- Courier and other one-off costs
- $100.00
- Months to save before applying
- 6 months
You get
- Total cost of the application
- $2,960.00
- Cost per applicant
- $1,480.00
- Monthly saving needed
- $493.33
- Likely non-refundable amount
- $1,420.00
Government fees are $1,000 and the per-person costs of $330 each come to $660, and the one-off costs are $1,300. The application totals $2,960, which is $1,480 for each applicant. Saved over six months that is $493.33 a month. The agent, sponsor and courier costs are 43.9% of the total, and $1,420 of the fees, medicals and biometrics would most likely be lost if the application were refused.
A family of four with translations and a sponsor fee
A larger household with heavier translation costs, a sponsor fee and a year to prepare.
You enter
- Government fee per person
- $320.00
- People applying
- 4 people
- Medical examination per person
- $120.00
- Biometrics and photographs per person
- $45.00
- Translations and certified copies per person
- $210.00
- Other per-person costs
- $55.00
- Agent or legal fee
- $2,500.00
- Sponsor or sponsorship fee
- $600.00
- Courier and other one-off costs
- $150.00
- Months to save before applying
- 12 months
You get
- Total cost of the application
- $6,250.00
- Cost per applicant
- $1,562.50
- Monthly saving needed
- $520.83
- Likely non-refundable amount
- $1,940.00
The government fees are $1,280 and the per-person costs are $430 each, which is $1,720 for the family. The one-off costs of $3,250 bring the total to $6,250, or $1,562.50 for each of the four applicants. Spread over twelve months that is $520.83 a month. The agent, sponsor and courier costs are 52.0% of the whole bill, and $1,940 of fees, medicals and biometrics would be at risk if the application failed.
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Frequently asked questions
Which costs are per person and which are paid once?
The government fee, the medical examination, biometrics and photographs, translations and the other per-person costs are multiplied by the number of applicants. The agent or legal fee, the sponsor fee and the courier costs are paid once for the application and are added afterwards, whatever the size of the family.
That split is what makes a family application so much more expensive than a single one. Two applicants at $500 each with $330 of per-person costs pay $1,660 before any professional fee, while the same application with four applicants pays $3,320.
Why is the agent fee such a large share of the total?
Because it does not scale with the family. On a two person application with a $1,200 agent fee, a $100 courier charge and no sponsor fee, the one-off costs are $1,300 against a $2,960 total, which is 43.9% of everything paid. The same structure with four applicants and a larger fee takes it to more than half.
An agent can be worth the money on a complicated case, and it is the line where the biggest saving is available on a straightforward one. Ask what the fee covers, whether it includes the forms, the appointment booking and any response to a request for more documents, and whether it is refunded if the application is refused.
What happens to the money if the application is refused?
The likely non-refundable line shows the government fees, medical examinations and biometrics, which are usually lost. Translations and courier costs are also usually gone, and an agent fee may be partly or wholly non-refundable depending on the agreement. A refused application is therefore an expensive event rather than a neutral one.
That is why completeness before submission matters more than speed. Doing the medicals, the police certificates and the translations properly the first time costs less than a resubmission, and the budget should be in place before the application goes in rather than after.
How does the monthly saving figure work?
It divides the whole total by the months you have before the application is submitted. A $2,960 application with six months to prepare needs $493.33 a month set aside. The figure includes the one-off professional costs, so it is the real amount rather than the fees alone.
Timing matters because the costs do not all fall in the same month. Medicals, biometrics and translations are usually paid in the weeks around the appointment, so the saving has to be in place before then rather than spread evenly until the decision.