Facts checked between 9 and 23 October 2026 against the sources linked below. Rules change often — check the official page before you act. This is shared experience, not legal, migration or financial advice.

Skilled visas and permanent residence

Fees are the Home Affairs charges from 1 July 2026, for the main applicant. The 2026–27 permanent program has 185,000 places, 132,240 of them skilled.

  • Skills in Demand (482): A$4,015, with a salary of at least A$79,423 (Core Skills) or A$146,576 (Specialist Skills).
  • Employer Nomination (186): A$6,140, usually after two years on a 482. In September 2026 half of applications took 21 months.
  • Skilled Independent (189): A$6,135. You need 65 points to lodge, but the June 2026 round invited most professions at 80–95, and 184,235 expressions of interest were waiting in September 2026.
  • State nominated (190) and regional (491): A$6,140. A nomination adds 5 or 15 points, and there are 35,500 places for 2026–27.

A redesigned points test has an indicated start of 1 July 2027. None of it is law yet.

Students, graduates and young people

  • Student (500): A$2,500, with A$31,860 of living funds. India has been at Evidence Level 3 since 8 January 2026. From 2 October 2026 a new application cannot include a partner or children, and most temporary visa holders must apply from outside Australia.
  • Temporary Graduate (485): two years after a bachelor's, three after a master's and four after a PhD for Indian passport holders, aged 35 or under, IELTS 6.5, A$5,750.
  • MATES: an A$25 ballot for up to 3,000 Indian graduates a year. The 2026–27 dates had not been published on the pages read on 23 October 2026.
  • Work and Holiday (462): A$840, up to 1,000 places a year, ages 18 to 30, 12 months.

Partners and parents

A partner visa is one application in two stages, temporary and then permanent about two years later: the 820 and 801 if you are in Australia, the 309 and 100 if you are not. It costs A$11,710 from 1 July 2026, up from A$9,365. Parents usually come on a visitor visa, A$250 if they apply outside Australia. Permanent parent visas are queued and costly, so check Home Affairs for the current charge. A visitor has no Medicare, so a parent staying for months should hold travel or visitor health insurance.

Citizenship, OCI and the Indian passport

  • Citizenship: four years of lawful residence, the last 12 months as a permanent resident. No more than 12 months abroad in the four years, and no more than 90 days in the last one. The fee is A$595, and the test has 20 questions: 15 right, including all five on Australian values.
  • OCI: India does not allow dual citizenship, so new citizens surrender the Indian passport and most apply for an OCI card. The government fee is A$414 plus the A$5 welfare fund contribution, so A$419, plus the VFS service fee, reported at A$115. VFS quotes an average of eight weeks. Since 8 July 2026 the card is an e-OCI.
  • Passport renewal: about A$295 before courier for a 36-page adult booklet, through Passport Seva and VFS. There is no tatkal in Australia. It takes four weeks if your last passport came from the same mission, eight if it came from India or another mission. Then update ImmiAccount: your visa is linked to the passport number.

Scams

Nobody can guarantee an invitation or sell a sponsorship. Check any adviser on the OMARA register, which sanctioned 28 agents in 2025–26. The High Commission warns of calls that claim to come from it or from VFS, threaten deportation and ask for money.

What to ask here

  • What was your timeline from lodging to grant, for which subclass and stream?
  • Which state nomination is open for my occupation right now?
  • What did you need for the partner or parent visa that you did not expect?
  • How did your OCI or passport appointment at VFS go?

The full Namaste guide: Indians in Australia, with the points table and invitation scores in the jobs guide.