Fraudulent student visa applications: Australia on vigil against India
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New Delhi: The Australian Department of Home Affairs told The Indian Express that the country has been registering an increase in attempts to obtain student visas through fraud, particularly from India.
Indian students are the second most in numbers hosted by Australia, while China is the most. After Australia lifted the Covid-19 related restrictions, applications for student visas have been flooding the country.
The home affairs department said the applications which are detected as fraudulent are placed under the “non-grant” category. This would make such applicants ineligible to make fresh applications for at least three to ten years.
Sydney Morning Herald reported a month ago that at least five Australian universities placed restrictions on applications of Indian students from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Australia hosts 89,700 students at present, while it is 1.25 lakh from China, as per Australian government data. The number of Indian students has grown up by 27 per cent in comparison with last year.
Further, TIE contacted more universities regarding restrictions on admission applications. It received information that all those contacts that are putting applications from India under additional scrutiny. They added that they are guided by the guidelines of the Australian Department of Home Affairs.
Edith Cowan University said that they have temporarily stopped undergraduate student recruitment from Punjab and Haryana and are reviewing its admission process and settings for the region. The university is in the 601-650 band in the QS rankings.
Southern Cross University said that they are aware that certain admission agents are adopting a more selective position. However, all applicants, regardless of origin, must meet their entry requirements, it added.
Victoria University, based in Melbourne, said that it is imposing additional requirements for applicants from certain Indian states.
When the University of Wollongong denies imposing any restrictions, Torrens University said they are still considering intake from certain Indian states.