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Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has quietly shifted India—along with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan—into Evidence Level 3, the highest-risk category in the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF). The re-rating, confirmed in an update published on January 8 and reported by Indian media on January 11, means every Indian applicant must now supply far more extensive financial and academic evidence and may face interview requests and longer processing times. ([timesofindia.indiatimes.com](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/australia-moves-india-into-highest-risk-category-for-student-visas-cites-emerging-integrity-risks/articleshow/126464773.cms))
Background: Under the SSVF, countries are graded from Evidence Level 1 (low risk) to Level 3 (high risk). India had sat at Level 2 for four years, a status that helped more than 120,000 Indian students enrol in Australian institutions in 2025. Canberra says the downgrade reflects “emerging integrity risks”, a reference to a spike in fraudulent documents and non-genuine enrolments detected since late-2024. Universities have already been instructed to tighten offers and monitor drop-out rates.
Practical implications: 1) Applicants must now prove sufficient funds for 12 months of living expenses (AUD 24,505), tuition, and travel, and may be asked for three-year bank histories, tax returns and English-language scores. 2) Education agents anticipate processing times stretching from the current median of four weeks to 8–10 weeks, jeopardising the July 2026 intake. 3) Rejection rates are expected to rise; when Nepal was moved to Level 3 in 2023, refusal rates topped 30 percent.
If you need help assembling the expanded financial evidence or simply want an expert to sanity-check your file before submission, VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) offers customised document checklists for Australia, bank statement verification, and end-to-end application tracking—services that can shave days off preparation time and cut the risk of costly refusals.
Business impact: Australian universities that rely heavily on Indian enrolments—especially vocational colleges in Melbourne and Sydney—face revenue risk at a time of capped domestic fees. Many are scrambling to diversify recruitment toward Southeast Asia and Latin America. Indian corporates running internal talent-development programmes with Australian partners should prepare for delays and consider alternate destinations such as Canada or the UK.
Advice for mobility managers: Start admission cycles earlier, budget for additional documentation costs, and brief assignees on stronger interview prep. Employers sponsoring study-plus-work pathways should build contingency plans for start-date slippage and explore remote onboarding until visas are granted.
Source: https://www.visahq.com/
