Highlights
- India continues to remain on assessment level 3
- Indian students will have to give evidence of financial capacity and English proficiency
- "We were expecting an upgrade," claims Ranbir Singh
The Assessment Levels for student visas are determined by the Department of Home Affairs on the basis of the combined evidence level outcomes of the student’s education provider and country of citizenship.
In September last year, the Department of Home Affairs downgraded the risk assessment of students from India, Nepal and Pakistan to level 3 from level 2.
The change meant that all student visa applicants from these countries applying for courses by education providers except reputed universities, have to give evidence of financial capacity and English proficiency.
In an interview with SBS Punjabi, Melbourne-based migration agent Ranbir Singh said that "Despite speculations of an upgrade, India continues to remain in the 'high-risk ' category" of the assessment scale.
"It is a disappointing outcome. We were expecting that India would at least be upgraded to level 2 given the current circumstances, but turns out there has been no revision on paper," said Mr Singh.
He added that levels are changed based on a combination of a few factors.
Over 72,000 Indian students are currently enrolled in Australia, which makes India the second-largest source of international students after China. Source: Reuters
"These changes are based on a balance of offshore refusals (both fraud-related and non-fraud related) and onshore immigration such as the rate of visa cancellations, overstayers and subsequent protection visa applications," said Mr Singh.
Click on the player above to listen to the full interview in Punjabi.
