4.9.2008

Prospective students from several countries including Sri Lanka will be required submit extra evidence supporting their application to obtain a student visa to Australia from September 1, the Australian Visa Bureau announced.

During 2007-08, more than 278,000 student visas to Australia were granted, which represents a 21% growth over the previous year. To streamline the visa application process, the government uses Assessment Levels (ALs) as a measurement of "immigration risk". Assessment levels apply to all applicants based on the country that the student is from, web based news sources reported quoting Australian immigration authorities.

There are 5 assessment levels in the Australian student visa program, with 1 being the lowest risk countries and 5 being the highest. Applicants in higher risk levels will need to provide more evidence than applicants in lower risk levels.

The latest review has resulted in changes to the assessment levels of 52 countries. Of the affected countries, 43 have moved to lower assessment levels meaning that students from those countries need to provide less evidence to qualify for a student visa to Australia.

The changes in legislation will affect all applications lodged on or after the 1st of September 2008. Applications lodged prior to September will be required to show evidence in accordance with the assessment levels currently in place.