Government Fees Versus Third-Party Emigration Fees: What You're Paying For
The invoice from the agency lands the same week as the IRCC fee confirmation, and the two numbers look nothing alike. Sorting out government fees versus third-party emigration fees is really a question about who gets paid for what, and only one side of that is fixed by law rather than negotiated with a business.
One is a government receipt with a file number on it. The other is a line item that says “processing” or “handling” and nothing more specific. A lot of South Africans budgeting for this move assume the two are roughly the same thing, paid to roughly the same place. They aren’t, and mixing them up is how people either overspend or run short at the worst moment.
What IRCC actually charges. As at 2 August 2026, a principal applicant on an economic permanent residence route pays $990 in processing fees plus a $600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee — $1,590 total. A spouse pays the same. Each dependent child is $270. Biometrics, medical exams and translation costs sit on top of that: biometrics run $85 per person, capped at $170 for a family; the immigration medical exam is arranged through an approved panel physician who sets their own rate, separate from anything IRCC publishes; and any document not already in English or French needs a certified translation, paid separately again. None of these figures come from one source, and none of them are optional.
What you get back if it falls through
There is a short answer to which emigration fees are refundable and which are not. The $600 RPRF is the one fee IRCC explicitly says it can refund after processing has started, if you withdraw or are refused. The $990 processing fee, biometrics and dependant fees are not. Anything paid to a private company follows whatever refund terms sit in that company’s own contract instead.
The costs that sit between government and private, and belong to neither
Some of the biggest line items in an emigration budget are government fees, just not IRCC’s. A SAPS Police Clearance Certificate costs roughly R190 per application, paid directly to SAPS — verify the current amount before applying. SAQA charges its own tariff for verifying a South African qualification, revised for the 2026/27 year. A credential evaluation from WES, ICAS, IQAS or CES is a private Canadian fee, typically $200–$290, paid in Canadian dollars regardless of where you live.
Where the SA service-provider chain adds another layer
Biometrics appointments through VFS Global are free to book, but VFS charges its own service fee on top of the IRCC biometric fee itself. Document couriers and DIRCO apostille facilitators sit in the same category — real services, priced separately from anything government-run, easy to mistake for a single “visa cost” if you aren’t tracking who invoiced what.
Separating a consultant’s fee from a government fee
A proper quote should show you consultant fees separated from government processing fees, line by line — IRCC, SAPS, SAQA, an ECA body, VFS or the agency itself. A quote bundling everything into one number is the one worth questioning hardest. It’s an ordinary request, and a legitimate provider won’t mind giving you a paper trail you can check against the primary sources yourself.
None of this replaces individual advice on your own fee exposure — a licensed RCIC or immigration lawyer can help with that. But the government-versus-private split above is something you can verify for free, before you pay anyone anything.
Our free guide, What It Really Costs, breaks a full emigration budget down by category in rand terms — a useful cross-check before you commit to any quote.