There is some bad news for Indian students aspiring to study in Australia. As per the news piece in the Times of India, The Australia Visa department has put Indian students in the “high-risk” category for Visa, starting September 2008. They have downgraded Indian students from Visa Assessment Level 3 to Visa Assessment Level 4 for higher education.

India would occupy the “high-risk” slot with other high-risk countries like Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Zimbabwe. So, the Indian students applying to Australia are advised to be extra-careful with their documentation for the Visa process, especially the financial documents.

Australia forms the second-most popular destination after US for Indian students. The change in the status of Indians has been criticized heavily from top Australian Academicians as they are very happy with the performance of the Indian students. One of them said, “Putting Indian students in the high-risk category would deter some of them from coming to Australia. Punishing the entire community for misdeeds of a handful would be harsh on the larger Indian student community.”

Assessment levels are changed after careful surveillance of students from a particular country and a country is downgraded if students don’t comply with the visa regulations. There are allegations against some Indian students for illegally overstaying and breaking some of the immigration laws of Australia.

Indian students studying overseas need to be careful to comply with the immigration laws of the country they study in to avoid trouble for the larger Indian student community. The international centers, like the Stanford Bechtel I-Center at the Stanford University, at every university are the best resource to understand the immigration laws for student visa holders.