Card surcharge changes: what your immigration practice needs to know

From 1 October 2026, new card payment surcharge rules take effect in Australia. For immigration lawyers and registered migration agents, this is an opportunity to review how your practice collects payments and communicates fees.

 

What is changing

Visa, Mastercard and eftpos are introducing no-surcharge rules for credit, debit and prepaid card payments through their networks. American Express and UnionPay are also removing surcharging from 1 October.

These changes follow the Reserve Bank of Australia’s review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. The restrictions operate through card-network rules and merchant agreements.

Businesses will still incur card processing costs, but generally cannot add a separate surcharge to affected payments.

 

What should your practice review?

If your practice currently applies card surcharges, review:

• Payment terminals, online payment systems and automated payment arrangements.
• Engagement contracts, invoices and payment instructions that refer to surcharges.
• Website information and other client-facing payment notices.
• Outstanding invoices issued before 1 October that may be paid after the changes take effect.

Contact your payment service provider to confirm how the rules apply to your arrangements and whether you need to disable surcharge settings.

 

What Migration Manager clients should do

If you’re a Migration Manager client, we recommend reviewing any fixed or percentage-based card surcharges currently configured in the platform and updating your settings so they’re no longer applied.

Where applicable, fixed and percentage-based card payment surcharges configured within Migration Manager should be updated to prevent them from being applied.

Please refer to the Migration Manager User Manual or contact the support team for instructions on making the necessary changes.

 

MM Templates have been updated

MM Templates content has also been updated to reflect the changes, helping you keep your practice documentation current.

If you use MM Templates, please review any saved or customised versions of your documents to ensure previous surcharge wording isn’t carried forward into new client communications.

Keeping your payment arrangements and documentation aligned is a practical step towards clear fees and consistent client communication.

 

Our approach to card processing costs

Migration Manager absorbs card processing costs for our clients as part of our standard approach. There is no change required for the fees you pay to Migration Manager as a result of the new surcharge rules.