The Australian Government is providing an incentive for fully vaccinated Students and Working Holiday Makers to travel to Australia as soon as possible.
As part of this, eligible Student and Working Holiday/Work and Holiday visa holders will receive a refund of the first instalment of the visa application charge paid in relation to that visa.
Eligibility
For Students, you will be eligible* for a refund of the visa application charge paid in relation to that visa if:
- you hold a valid Student visa (subclasses 500, 560, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574 or 575) , and
- arrive in Australia on that visa between 19 January 2022 and 19 March 2022.
For Working Holiday Makers, you will be eligible* for a refund of the visa application charge paid in relation to that visa if:
- you hold a valid Working Holiday/Work and Holiday visa (subclasses 417 or 462), and
- arrive in Australia on that visa between 19 January 2022 and 19 April 2022.
Making a claim for a refund
If you meet these eligibility criteria, you can create an account and login from this page.
There is no need to rush to make your claim. As long as you hold a Student or Working Holiday/Work and Holiday visa, paid the visa application charge and have not already claimed a waiver or a refund, and arrive on that visa within the specified time-frames, you will be eligible for a refund. You can make a claim any time up to 31 December 2022.
Before you commence your claim, you will need to have key identifying information with you, such as your name, date of birth, passport, Transaction Reference Number (TRN) and bank account details.
We will process your refund claim as quickly as possible, but the time taken will vary for each visa holder. This is because we process each refund according to the visa holder’s individual circumstances, and must ensure that we make the refund payment to the correct person.
We will contact you if we need any further information from you, or when we pay the refund.
To get your refund sooner, you are encouraged to have your refund paid into an Australian bank account or to a valid credit card, rather than via an international money transfer.
Please do not lodge multiple refund claims for the same eligible visa. If you have not included all required information, we will contact you.
For the most up-to-date information on Visa Application Charge Refunds, please visit the Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs website.