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Australia work visa cost in pesos: the 482 visa's real price tag for your family

Visa guide · 2026-10-16 · 9 min read

The Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) has a base application charge of AUD4,015.00, which comes to roughly ₱175,335 at the Reserve Bank of Australia's 08 Oct 2026 rate. Bring your spouse and the visa charge effectively doubles; bring a child and it climbs further again. There is good news too: the Australian employer who sponsors you must pay their own sponsorship and nomination fees, and the law does not let them pass those costs on to you. Here is every charge in Australian dollars and in pesos, plus the costs that sit outside the visa fee altogether.

What the subclass 482 visa charges, in Australian dollars and pesos

The Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), covered in detail in our full Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa guide, is a temporary visa that lets an Australian employer sponsor a suitably skilled worker for a job it cannot fill locally. It is the visa behind most sponsored roles advertised to OFWs, from this CNC machinist job in Sydney to this boilermaker and metal fabricator job in Perth, whether the stream is Core Skills, Specialist Skills or a Labour Agreement. All three streams share the same base application charge. Once granted, the visa lets you work for your sponsor in Australia for up to 4 years, and your spouse and children can live, study and work in Australia with you — which is exactly why the family add-on charges below matter for anyone planning to bring them. If your spouse or children are coming with you, the Home Affairs Visa Pricing Table adds a further charge for each one.

These peso figures are rough comparisons only, worked out at the official Reserve Bank of Australia rate published on 08 Oct 2026 (43.67 pesos to the Australian dollar). The rate moves, so check the current one on the RBA's exchange rate page and the charge itself on the Home Affairs Visa Pricing Table before you commit any money.

Other costs the visa charge does not include

The visa application charge is not the whole bill. Home Affairs says applicants also pay separately for English language tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics. For a Filipino applicant, the police certificate is the NBI clearance. The NBI's basic clearance fee is ₱130 plus an e-payment service charge, and applicants abroad who mail in their form send P200.00 in total: P130.00 for the clearance and P70.00 for mailing. Only a medical certificate from a DOH-accredited clinic for OFWs is accepted toward an OEC, so keep that receipt as well. In Manila, Cebu and Davao, VFS Global's Australian Biometric Collection Centres charge their own service fee to collect your biometrics. There is one exception worth knowing: if your sponsor is an accredited sponsor, you do not need police certificates from countries other than Australia, as long as the sponsor attaches a reference confirming your good character and no criminal convictions — one less certificate fee to budget for.

The health check is the cost people most often pay at the wrong time. Our guide to the Australia visa medical in the Philippines lists the panel clinic cities and explains when to book so the results do not expire.

What your employer must pay — and what they can never ask you for

Sponsorship has its own, separate set of fees, and none of them are yours to carry. Home Affairs' cost-of-sponsoring page lists AUD420 for an employer to become an approved sponsor and AUD330 to nominate you for the Skills in Demand visa, roughly ₱32,753 together at the same rate. On top of that sits the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy: AUD1,200 a year or part thereof if the business turns over less than $10 million a year, or AUD1,800 a year for a larger business.

Home Affairs states plainly that the sponsoring employer must pay all costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating an applicant, and cannot transfer them to the visa holder or their family, and that employers must not pass the SAF levy on to you either. Paying for your own sponsorship is not just against the rules: it is illegal, including through salary deductions, and can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment.

If sponsorship leads to permanent residence later

Some subclass 482 holders are later sponsored by the same employer for permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), most often through the Temporary Residence Transition stream after working for the sponsor for about two years. The subclass 186 visa has its own base application charge of AUD6,140.00, roughly ₱268,134 at the same rate. It is worth keeping in mind while you plan ahead, even though it is a separate, later application with its own eligibility rules. You will not be budgeting alone, either: the 2021 Census counted 293,892 people in Australia born in the Philippines, close to 1.2% of the population, so established OFW communities are already there once you land, including around the manufacturing jobs in Australia and New Zealand that often come with 482 sponsorship. Once you know what the visa costs, check our guide to Australian salary in peso terms to see what is left over each payday.

Both steps also come with a pay floor the employer must meet; our guide to the 482 visa salary requirement explains which threshold applies and when.

How to budget for your 482 visa costs, step by step

1. Confirm the job offer clearly states visa sponsorship, and check which stream applies: Core Skills, Specialist Skills or Labour Agreement.
2. Look up the current base charge and family add-ons on the Home Affairs Visa Pricing Table rather than relying on an old figure from a relative or a forum.
3. Convert the AUD total to pesos using the latest Reserve Bank of Australia rate on the day you actually budget, not a screenshot from months ago.
4. List your own documentation costs separately: passport renewal, NBI clearance, a DOH-accredited medical exam, and any English test the visa or employer requires.
5. Check that the sponsorship fee, nomination fee and SAF levy are being paid by the business, not deducted from your pay or billed to you in any form.
6. Keep every receipt from the agency, the clinic and the NBI. If anyone asks you to cover the employer's sponsorship or nomination fee, that request is illegal.

Common mistakes

• Budgeting only the AUD4,015.00 base charge and forgetting that a spouse adds the same amount again, and each child adds AUD1,005.00.
• Using an exchange rate from months earlier instead of the current RBA figure, which can be off by tens of thousands of pesos on a family application.
• Assuming the visa charge is the only cost, then being caught out later by the NBI clearance, medical exam and biometrics fees that sit on top of it.
• Agreeing to pay, or to have deducted from salary, any part of the employer's sponsorship fee, nomination fee or Skilling Australians Fund levy.
• Paying for flights or other large costs before the visa is actually granted, instead of checking the official Visa Pricing Table and your own grant letter first.
• Assuming every sponsor is an accredited sponsor and skipping extra police certificates on that basis, instead of checking your own employer's status first.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the subclass 482 visa cost in pesos?

The base application charge is AUD4,015.00, roughly ₱175,335 at the Reserve Bank of Australia's 08 Oct 2026 rate. That figure covers only the main applicant; a spouse or child coming with you adds a further charge on top.

Does the visa charge cover my spouse and children?

No. The Home Affairs Visa Pricing Table adds AUD4,015.00 for each applicant aged 18 or over and AUD1,005.00 for each applicant under 18, so a family of three can expect a combined charge of about AUD9,035.00, roughly ₱394,558.

Who pays the employer's sponsorship and nomination fees?

The employer does. Home Affairs states that the sponsoring business must pay all costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating you, including the Skilling Australians Fund levy, and cannot pass any of it on to you or your family.

What other costs should I budget for besides the visa charge?

Expect to pay separately for an English test if one is required, a medical exam at a DOH-accredited clinic, your NBI clearance, and a biometrics service fee at an Australian Biometric Collection Centre in Manila, Cebu or Davao.

Why does the peso amount change from one month to the next?

The figures here use the Reserve Bank of Australia's published exchange rate for a single date. That rate moves daily, so the peso equivalent of a fixed Australian-dollar charge will be a little higher or lower depending on when you check it.

Can an accredited sponsor reduce any of these costs?

In one specific way, yes: if your employer is an accredited sponsor, you will not need police certificates from countries other than Australia, as long as they attach a character reference instead. Every other charge in this guide still applies either way.

Key takeaways

• The subclass 482 base charge is AUD4,015.00, roughly ₱175,335 at the 08 Oct 2026 RBA rate; it rises with every family member you bring.
• A spouse adds AUD4,015.00 and each child adds AUD1,005.00, so check the family total before you plan a budget.
• Employers pay their own sponsorship, nomination and Skilling Australians Fund costs by law, and can never pass them to you.
• Budget separately for your NBI clearance, DOH-accredited medical exam, any English test, and biometrics.
• Always check the current charge and the current exchange rate before you commit money, since both change over time.

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