186 Visa Cost in 2026: Nomination Fee, SAF Levy, Visa Charges and Who Pays

A Subclass 186 visa costs the worker $6,140 in visa application charges as the main applicant, plus $3,070 for each family member aged 18 or over and $1,535 for each child under 18. The employer pays separately: a $540 nomination fee in most cases, and a Skilling Australians Fund levy of $3,000 or $5,000, depending on the business’s turnover.

The visa charges rose on 1 July 2026, from $4,910 for a main applicant. The nomination fee stayed at $540.

Two questions usually follow. Can any of this be passed to the worker? On the Department’s guidance, none of the employer’s costs can. Does Direct Entry cost more than the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream? Only when the TRT position is in regional Australia, and then TRT is cheaper.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 5.37 and Schedule 1 item 1114B, compilation in force from 2 October 2026; Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018, section 6, compilation of 7 December 2024; the Department’s cost of sponsoring page, updated 21 September 2026, for who pays.

What the employer pays: the nomination fee and the SAF levy

Both employer costs are paid when the nomination is lodged. Regulation 5.19 says the nomination application must “be accompanied by the fee mentioned in regulation 5.37” and “be accompanied by any nomination training contribution charge the nominator is liable to pay”. That charge is the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy.

The fee itself is set by regulation 5.37. For a Direct Entry nomination under the Employer Nomination Scheme, “the fee is $540” wherever the job is. For TRT and Labour Agreement nominations, “no fee is payable” if “the position is located in regional Australia”, and the fee is $540 if it is not. The Department publishes the regional postcodes for the 186 on its own page.

The levy does not change with the stream. Section 6 of the charges regulations sets it for every 186 nomination at “$3,000” where “the annual turnover for the nomination is less than $10,000,000” and “$5,000” in any other case. The one exception is a Labour Agreement nomination for a minister of religion or religious assistant, where the levy is nil.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 5.37, in force from 2 October 2026; Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018, section 6. The Department’s cost of sponsoring page, updated 21 September 2026, lists the same amounts.

The levy is a one-off payment for the 186. That is different from the 482, where the Department lists it as “per year or part thereof”.

How the $10 million turnover line is drawn

Small business here means turnover, not headcount. The charges regulations define annual turnover, for a business operating in Australia, as “the total ordinary income (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) the person derived in the most recent income year (within the meaning of that Act) ending before the nomination day”. The nomination day is the day the nomination application is made.

So the test looks backwards. A business that crosses $10 million during the current year still pays $3,000 if its last completed income year was under the line. The nomination form has to “identify the annual turnover”, and the Department calculates the levy from it.

If the figure is wrong, the fix is narrow: regulation 5.37A(4) allows a refund where the nomination is withdrawn before a decision because the levy information “was incorrect”. The Department also notes, on its cost of sponsoring page, that “Levy payments are tax deductible.”

What the worker pays: the visa application charge

The visa charge is the same in all three streams. Schedule 1 has a single item for the Employer Nomination (Permanent) visa, and the Department’s pricing data lists identical amounts for Direct Entry, TRT and Labour Agreement.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 item 1114B, in force from 2 October 2026; the Department’s current visa pricing, updated 1 July 2026.

Main applicants who hold a valid passport issued by a Pacific-regional country, and family members whose applications are combined with theirs, pay lower first instalments: $5,035, $2,515 and $1,260. The second instalment is nil for a minister of religion nominated by a religious institution, their family members, and certain applicants in family violence situations described in Schedule 2.

The family charges are where the bill grows. A worker with a partner and two children under 18 pays $12,280 in first instalment charges. For how this compares with other visas after the 1 July rise, see our guide to Australian visa fees in 2026.

Direct Entry or TRT: what the whole bill looks like

Put the employer and worker costs together and the streams barely differ. Of the visa charges, nomination fee and levy, the only amount that moves is the TRT nomination fee for a regional position.

Source: totals worked out from regulation 5.37 and Schedule 1 item 1114B of the Migration Regulations 1994 and section 6 of the SAF charges regulations, as in force in October 2026. Totals exclude second instalments, card surcharges, skills assessments, health checks, police certificates and professional fees.

The real difference is outside the government fees. Direct Entry applicants generally need a positive skills assessment, a separate cost, and at least 3 years of full-time work in the occupation. TRT applicants generally need at least 2 years in the last 3 on a 457 or 482 visa, working full-time for an approved work sponsor. Our Direct Entry stream guide and TRT stream guide cover who can use each.

Who pays what, and what the employer cannot recover

A worker offering to cover the levy can feel like a fair way to share the load. The law treats it differently.

The Department’s cost of sponsoring page is blunt: “You must pay for all costs associated with becoming a sponsor and nominating and sponsoring an applicant. You can’t transfer these costs to the visa holder or their family members.” On the levy specifically: “Employers must not pass the SAF levy on to the visa applicant.” The same page says “It is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa”, including where “the employer deducts an amount from their salary”.

The statutory rule that reaches the 186 nomination itself is section 245AR of the Migration Act 1958. A person contravenes it if “the first person asks for, or receives, a benefit from another person” and does so “in return for the occurrence of a sponsorship-related event”. Three definitions make it bite:

• Benefit includes “a payment or other valuable consideration” and “a deduction of an amount” (section 245AQ).
• Sponsorship-related event includes “a person applying under the regulations for approval of the nomination of a position in relation to the holder of, or an applicant or proposed applicant for, a sponsored visa” (section 245AQ).
• Sponsored visa includes “a Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) visa” (regulation 5.19M).

So asking a worker to pay, or deducting an amount from their pay, in return for lodging a 186 nomination comes within the words of section 245AR(1). Section 245AR(2) adds that the contravention happens “even if the sponsorship-related event does not occur.” There is one carve-out, for “a payment of a reasonable amount for a professional service” that has been or will be provided.

The nomination form makes the employer put this in writing. Regulation 5.19(2)(g) requires “a written certification by the nominator stating whether or not the nominator has engaged in conduct, in relation to the nomination, that constitutes a contravention of subsection 245AR(1) of the Act.”

TRT employers have a second layer. A TRT nomination can only be approved if the nominator was the standard business sponsor, or the party to a work agreement, who last nominated the worker under section 140GB of the Act (regulation 5.19(5)(h)), so every TRT employer is or was an approved work sponsor. Regulation 2.87 binds anyone who “is or was an approved work sponsor”: the sponsor “must not recover from another person some or all of the costs, including migration agent costs” of becoming or being a sponsor, or “associated with a nomination under subsection 140GB(1) of the Act (including a fee … or nomination training contribution charge)”. That covers the earlier 457 or 482 nomination and the sponsorship itself. Its words do not mention a nomination under regulation 5.19, which is how a 186 nomination is made, so for the 186 fee and levy the rule doing the work is section 245AR. Our guide to sponsorship obligations for business sponsors covers regulation 2.87 in full.

Source: Migration Act 1958, compilation in force from 8 October 2026; Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.87 and Schedule 2 clauses 186.212A and 186.312A, in force from 2 October 2026; Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026, in force from 1 July 2026.

Penalty units convert to dollars at the Commonwealth rate, which the Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026 set at $364 from 1 July 2026. At that rate, 240 penalty units is $87,360. For a company, section 486R(5) of the Migration Act lets a court order up to 5 times the civil penalty amount. Note the last row too: the worker’s own visa can be refused over a payment they offered or made.

The visa charge sits differently. Section 45A of the Migration Act makes the non-citizen who applies for the visa liable to pay it, so by default it is the worker’s cost. An employer may choose to pay it.

Costs you might not expect

• The second instalment. $4,890 for “any family member aged 18 years or older who … has less than Functional English”, invoiced “after you have met all other requirements for the visa”, says the Department’s Direct Entry page.
• Card surcharges. “A surcharge may apply when paying for visa application charges, sponsorship or nomination fees by credit card or by PayPal,” according to the Department’s fees and charges page, updated 25 September 2026.
• The date that sets the price. The same page says “The cost of your visa is dependent on the date we receive your application.”
• The 6 month window. The visa application must be made “not more than 6 months after the Minister approved the nomination”. Miss it and a fresh nomination means a fresh fee and levy.
• Refunds are narrow. The Department says “We won’t refund your costs if the application is not successful”, and the Direct Entry page adds “We will not refund the visa application charge if we refuse your application.”

The nomination fee and levy can come back only in the situations regulation 5.37A lists, and even then the Minister “may” refund, either on a written request from whoever paid or without one where the Minister considers it reasonable.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 5.37A, in force from 2 October 2026; the Department’s cost of sponsoring page, updated 21 September 2026, which notes the 12 month rule “does not apply to ENS or RSMS holders who leave their employer within the first 12 months of employment.”

In practice the Department reads this narrowly. Its cost of sponsoring page says that once it has approved a nomination, “only the SAF levy (or part thereof) may be refunded in very limited circumstances”, and both 186 stream pages say “Generally, we do not refund the nomination fee.”

When it is worth getting legal advice

The government’s share of a 186 is fixed, so the real saving is not paying it twice. The stakes are higher if:

• a worker has offered to pay the levy, the fee or your adviser’s costs, or a pay deduction has already been discussed
• your turnover is close to $10 million, or the right entity to nominate is unclear
• whether the position counts as regional decides the TRT nomination fee
• a family member aged 18 or over may not meet functional English
• a previous nomination or visa was refused, or the business has had a sponsorship breach

In those cases our employer sponsorship team can review the numbers and the risks before anything is lodged, subject to your circumstances.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to get sponsored in Australia?

For a Subclass 186, as at October 2026, the worker’s visa charge is $6,140, plus $3,070 for each family member 18 or over and $1,535 for each family member under 18. The employer pays a $540 nomination fee (nil for some regional positions) and a $3,000 or $5,000 SAF levy.

Who pays the 186 visa fees, the employer or the employee?

The employer pays the nomination fee and the SAF levy, and the Department says these cannot be transferred to the visa holder or their family. The visa application charge attaches to the worker’s own application, though an employer may choose to pay it.

Can my employer deduct the SAF levy from my wages?

The Department says “Employers must not pass the SAF levy on to the visa applicant.” Under section 245AQ of the Migration Act, a “benefit” includes “a deduction of an amount”, and asking for or receiving a benefit in return for a nomination can contravene section 245AR.

Is the 186 nomination fee refundable if the visa is refused?

Only in the situations listed in regulation 5.37A, such as a refusal under section 501 or on certain health, character or other public interest criteria, or where the worker never starts the job. A refusal for other reasons is not a listed situation.

Did the 186 visa cost go up in 2026?

Yes. From 1 July 2026 the main applicant charge rose from $4,910 to $6,140, and the family member charges rose to $3,070 and $1,535. The nomination fee stayed at $540 and the second instalment amounts did not change.

A realistic next step

Whether you are budgeting for a permanent hire or working out what is fair to be asked to pay, the government’s share is fixed. What you control is lodging the right stream, with the right turnover figure and the right people included. If you want a second set of eyes on that before you pay, book a consultation with our migration lawyers.

About the author: Tina Nematian is the Principal Lawyer at One Planet Migration Law. She is admitted as an Australian Legal Practitioner, and has guided clients through partner, skilled, employer-sponsored, student, and humanitarian visa applications across Australia.

This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa rules change frequently and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Speak with a registered migration lawyer or agent before making any application. Figures were current as of October 2026; always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before lodging.