Visa Fees Compared: US vs UK vs Canada vs Australia vs Germany (2026)

Every “visa fee” headline hides a second, often larger number. This comparison lays out what five major destinations actually charged in 2026 for a student or a standard employer-sponsored work visa — the base application fee, the mandatory add-on, and the detail that trips people up. Figures below were cross-checked against official government pages and multiple current immigration-industry sources as of October 2026; always confirm the exact amount on the relevant government site before you pay, since governments revise these figures with little notice.

Student visa fees at a glance

United States. The F-1 visa fee itself ($185) hasn’t moved in several years, but the SEVIS I-901 fee — paid separately to FMJfee.com before your embassy interview — rose sharply in recent cycles and now exceeds the visa fee. Some 2026 sources also cite a newer “visa integrity fee” of roughly $250 for certain applicants; its status and scope weren’t consistent across sources we checked, so verify with travel.state.gov whether it applies to your case before budgeting. See our US visa fees breakdown for the full picture.

United Kingdom. £558 gets you the application, but the Immigration Health Surcharge is where UK student visas get expensive — £776 per year of your course, paid upfront for the whole duration, not annually as you go. A three-year degree means paying over £2,300 in IHS alone, on top of the application fee. Check our UK visa fees guide and the UK student visa guide for the full cost stack.

Canada. At roughly CAD $235 combined, Canada’s study permit is the cheapest pure application cost in this comparison — but that number is misleading on its own, because Canada also requires proof of a large living-cost fund (see our proof of funds comparison) and, for many applicants, a Guaranteed Investment Certificate. The application fee being low doesn’t make the overall visa cheap.

Australia. Australia’s subclass 500 fee has risen fast: AUD $1,600 before July 2025, AUD $2,000 from July 2025, and AUD $2,500 for applications lodged from 1 July 2026 — a roughly 56% increase in two years. On top of that sits Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), whose cost scales with course length and provider. See our Australia visa fees breakdown for current OSHC estimates.

Germany. Germany’s €75 national visa fee is the lowest headline number by far, and public universities’ low-to-no tuition reinforces Germany’s reputation as the “budget” destination — but that framing misses the point. Before you can even submit the visa application, you typically need to fund a blocked account (Sperrkonto) at roughly €11,904 for the year (around €992/month), which several providers (Expatrio, Fintiba, Coracle) sell as a packaged product. See our Germany blocked account guide for how that works and our Germany visa fees breakdown for the rest.

Work visa fees: a rougher comparison

Work-visa fees are harder to compare cleanly because so much depends on sponsor-paid costs (which the applicant often never sees a bill for) versus applicant-paid costs:

• US (H-1B): The employer pays most of the heavy fees — registration, base filing, and since 2025 a much-discussed $100,000 supplemental fee that applies in specific circumstances. See our H-1B $100,000 fee guide for exactly who it hits.
• UK (Skilled Worker): The applicant-facing fee depends on sponsor size and role length, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge at the standard £1,035/year rate (not the discounted student rate) — see our UK Skilled Worker visa cost guide.
• Canada (Employer-sponsored work permit): Typically CAD $155 for the work permit plus the employer’s LMIA fee (CAD $1,000), which is legally the employer’s cost, not the worker’s — see our Canada LMIA guide.
• Australia (Skills in Demand 482): The nominated salary must clear an indexed income threshold, and the application charge sits in the low thousands of AUD for the primary applicant — confirm the current figure on the Home Affairs fee estimator before budgeting, since it’s indexed periodically.
• Germany (EU Blue Card / Opportunity Card): The same €75–€100 national visa fee range applies, making Germany’s work-visa entry cost the lowest of the five on paper — see our Germany EU Blue Card guide.

What the headline fee always hides

1. Health cover or surcharges — the UK’s IHS and Australia’s OSHC can cost more than the visa itself over a multi-year stay.
2. Proof-of-funds instruments — Germany’s blocked account and Canada’s GIC aren’t “fees” in the legal sense, but they lock up thousands of dollars you can’t spend elsewhere until the visa is approved.
3. Biometrics and service-centre charges — VFS Global and similar third-party centres often add a separate service fee on top of the government fee; that’s a private company’s charge, not the embassy’s.
4. Currency and timing risk — paying a GBP, AUD or EUR fee from a depreciating home currency can add real cost between the day you check the figure and the day you pay it.

None of this is legal advice — it’s preparation guidance so you can budget accurately. Always confirm the exact, current fee on the relevant government page (travel.state.gov, gov.uk, canada.ca, homeaffairs.gov.au, or your nearest German mission) before you pay, since every one of these governments has changed fees with little public notice in the past two years.

Tracking five different fee schedules, surcharges and funds requirements across countries is exactly the kind of thing that’s easy to get wrong under deadline pressure. Join the VisaMet waitlist to get help checking your specific visa’s full cost stack — not just the headline fee — before you apply.