Cost of moving to Australia from Uganda: a family of three faces AUD9,035.00 in visa charges alone

Tips · 2026-11-10 · 8 min read

The cost of moving to Australia from Uganda starts with one fixed number: AUD4,015.00 for the main applicant's Skills in Demand (482) visa charge. A partner and children add more, your own paperwork adds more again, and the employer's sponsorship costs are never meant to be yours. This guide separates the three buckets so you can plan without guessing.

Three buckets of cost, and who carries each

Most confusion comes from mixing the buckets together. A recruiter or "agent" who blends them into one large figure is usually hiding something. Keep them apart.

The employer's costs: becoming an approved sponsor, nominating you and any levy. These belong to the employer.
The visa charge: the government's application charge for you and any family members who apply with you.
Your own costs: tests, medicals, police certificates, documents, flights and the first weeks of rent. Nobody publishes a single official total for these.

What the Australian 482 visa costs the applicant

Home Affairs' Visa Pricing Table sets the amounts below. If you move with family, the partner and children are extra applicants. For a worker with an adult partner and one child under 18, the visa charges alone come to AUD9,035.00 (AUD4,015.00 + AUD4,015.00 + AUD1,005.00). That is a visa-charge sum only, not a moving budget.

Charge	Amount
482 base application charge (Core Skills, Specialist Skills, Labour Agreement)	AUD4,015.00
Additional applicant aged 18 or over	AUD4,015.00
Additional applicant under 18	AUD1,005.00
Subsequent temporary application charge	AUD700.00

Always read the live Visa Pricing Table before you pay, because the department can change these amounts. Our guide to moving from Uganda to Australia on the Skills in Demand (482) visa explains how the visa itself works.

What the employer must pay, and cannot pass on

Sponsoring a worker is not free for the business. Home Affairs lists AUD420 to become an approved sponsor under the 482 programme and AUD330 to nominate for the 482 visa. The Skilling Australians Fund levy is AUD1200 per year or part thereof for a small business and AUD1800 for a larger one.

The rule that matters to you is simple: the sponsoring employer must pay all the costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating you, and cannot transfer them to you or your family. The levy must not be passed on to the applicant either. The department sets this out on its cost of sponsoring page. For the employer's side in detail, read Employer Sponsored Jobs' line-by-line guide to who pays for visa sponsorship.

The reverse is also true: it is illegal to pay an employer to sponsor you, including through salary deductions. Our post on paying for sponsorship in Australia from Uganda covers what to do if someone asks.

Your own costs in Uganda before you apply

Home Affairs says applicants pay separately for English language tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics. None of those prices come from the visa charge, so ask each provider for a written quote.

English evidence

A Ugandan passport is not on the list of passports exempt from the English requirement for the 482 visa (Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America). You may instead show at least 5 years of full-time study at secondary level or higher where most classes were in English, with transcripts. Otherwise you sit an approved test, and results must be taken within 3 years before applying. Our posts on the English test for Australia from Uganda and IELTS and PTE for Ugandan applicants compare the options, and PractiseNow offers practice for the tests.

Certificate of Good Conduct

When Home Affairs or the employer asks for police clearance, the Ugandan document is a Certificate of Good Conduct from the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Kampala, applied for online through the Uganda Police Force portal. A Uganda Police Force release of 13 November 2024 gave the official fee as UGX 76,000, plus bank charges of UGX 2,300 or UGX 3,700 when paying by MTN Mobile Money, and a processing time cut from 7 to 5 working days. Those are dated figures, so recheck them on the Uganda Police Force page before you budget.

The certificate is valid for six months from the date of issue, so apply close to the date the authority needs it. The police page also advises the public to avoid middlemen or brokers.

Health check

Health examinations outside Australia must be done by one of the Department of Home Affairs' approved panel physicians or clinics, and for the 482 visa the results are generally valid for 12 months. Organising them before you lodge can reduce processing time, but do not pay for a medical until you know what the visa needs.

New Zealand: the AEWV is cheaper at the start

If you are looking at New Zealand instead, Immigration New Zealand says the Accredited Employer Work Visa costs from NZD $1540, and it needs a job offer from an accredited employer. New Zealand employers cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay any of their recruitment costs, even indirectly through a third party, and INZ declines an AEWV application if you or your agent offered money for a job offer. See the official AEWV page and our guide to working in New Zealand on an AEWV.

How to build your own budget

Write down the visa charge for every person who will apply, using the live Visa Pricing Table (or the AEWV page for New Zealand).
Add a quote from each English test, medical and police clearance provider you will actually use.
Add the costs no official page lists: flights, your first weeks of rent and the gap before your first pay.
Convert only the final total to shillings, using your bank's rate on the day you pay.
Cross out anything an employer or recruiter wants you to pay for sponsorship, nomination or the job itself.

A clear application also saves time you would otherwise spend on re-sending documents. Build AI CV is one way to tidy yours, and our CV guide for Australian employers shows what employers look for.

Common mistakes people in Uganda make with moving costs

Paying "processing fees" to a stranger. Scamwatch lists a recruitment fee requested before starting work as a warning sign, and the Uganda Police Force warns against middlemen for police clearance.
Treating one quote as the whole budget. The visa charge leaves out tests, medicals, certificates, flights and rent.
Forgetting the family charges. Each adult applicant is a full additional charge.
Using an old figure. Fees, test rules and police-clearance charges change; always check the date.
Skipping a check on the helper. Before paying anyone for visa help, check the migration agent on the official register.

When you have a budget, browse sponsored jobs in Australia and New Zealand and apply only to roles where the ad itself says the employer sponsors visas.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the Skills in Demand (482) visa cost for one person?

Home Affairs lists the base application charge at AUD4,015.00 in the Core Skills, Specialist Skills and Labour Agreement streams. Charges change, so open the Visa Pricing Table on the day you apply. Tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics are paid on top.

Can my employer ask me to repay the sponsorship fees?

No. Home Affairs says 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. The Skilling Australians Fund levy must not be passed on to you either.

Is it legal to pay an employer to sponsor me?

No. Home Affairs says it is illegal to pay an employer to sponsor you for a visa, including through salary deductions, and it can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment. Anyone asking for such a payment over the phone or WhatsApp should be reported, not paid.

What does the New Zealand AEWV cost?

Immigration New Zealand says the Accredited Employer Work Visa costs from NZD $1540. New Zealand employers also cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay their recruitment costs, including indirectly through a third party.

Should I convert these costs into Ugandan shillings?

Only with the rate on the day you pay. Exchange rates move, and the Uganda Police Force fee is the only shilling figure we can quote with a date here. Use your bank or mobile money provider's live rate before you plan a budget.

Does the visa charge include the English test and medical?

No. Home Affairs says applicants pay other costs for English language tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics besides the visa charge. Those providers set their own prices, so ask each one for a current quote.

Key takeaways

The 482 visa base charge is AUD4,015.00, and each extra adult applicant adds AUD4,015.00.
The employer must pay sponsor and nomination costs and cannot pass them to you or your family.
You pay separately for tests, medicals, police clearance and travel.
The AEWV costs from NZD $1540, and New Zealand employers cannot charge you for a job.
Convert to shillings only on the day you pay, and recheck every fee on the official page.

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