Senate faces disallowance motion over doubled Temporary Graduate visa fee

The Senate’s Notice Paper for Monday, 22 June 2026 confirms that Greens Senators David Shoebridge and Mehreen Faruqi will move to disallow the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026, which doubled the Subclass 485 fee to AUD 4,600 when registered in February. Under standing orders, the chamber has 14 sitting days to deal with the motion or the instrument will be automatically struck down. A similar attempt failed in May after Labor and One Nation combined numbers, but cross-bench sentiment has shifted following the weekend’s student-visa hike. If the disallowance succeeds, graduates who lodge after the revocation date would revert to the pre-March fee of AUD 2,300, potentially saving employers thousands on bulk applications. Migration lawyers caution, however, that the Government could immediately re-make a near-identical regulation, restarting the clock. Human-resources teams planning to sponsor recent alumni for post-study work rights should monitor Senate proceedings and consider front-loading applications to lock in current policy settings. Any budget contingency should also factor in downstream costs such as skills-assessment and health-insurance premiums, which are unaffected by the fee dispute.