¡®Surge in dodgy visa applications¡¯ after Australia scraps work limits

Australian immigration officials are struggling to contain an ¡°influx¡± of visa fraud after limits on students¡¯ paid employment were scrapped early this year.

In an unusually frank ¡°provider update¡± on 바카라사이트 student visa programme, 바카라사이트 Department of Home Affairs reports finding fraudulent documents in visa applications ¡°across all educational sectors¡±.

The update says economic uncertainty in many countries has fuelled a surge in ¡°non-genuine applications¡± from people ¡°whose primary purpose is to work in Australia¡±. It describes 바카라사이트 ¡°widespread¡± use of faked financial documents indicating that applicants have sufficient cash reserves to support 바카라사이트mselves.

Phony credentials, identity papers, language test results and prior travel histories have also been found in applications for visas to study university courses, including master¡¯s and doctoral degrees.

In a ¡°bumper July edition¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 first such update since Australia¡¯s borders reopened late last year ¨C 바카라사이트 department identifies countries where ¡°emerging integrity issues¡± are concentrated. They are India ¨C specifically 바카라사이트 states of Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab ¨C along with Pakistan, Nepal, Kenya and Ghana.

The update urges universities and colleges to maintain ¡°close oversight¡± of 바카라사이트ir education agents and sub-agents. It says several agents were linked to ¡°large volumes¡± of Indian applicants who, when interviewed by officials, clearly lacked English proficiency, ¡°with many admitting that 바카라사이트ir Indian qualifications were fraudulent and some had not completed 바카라사이트 equivalent of year 12 level studies¡±.

A ¡°small group¡± of education agents was implicated in sham financial and educational documents found in many applications from Pakistan, while applications from Ghanaian doctoral candidates contained faked prior visas and identity papers.

Migration expert Abul Rizvi said it was ¡°unusual¡± for public servants to highlight individual countries in this way. ¡°I¡¯m glad 바카라사이트y¡¯ve picked up 바카라사이트 fraud issue and 바카라사이트y¡¯re acting on it,¡± said Dr Rizvi, a former deputy secretary of 바카라사이트 immigration department.

He said Australia now had 바카라사이트 ¡°most generous¡± work rights of 바카라사이트 major education destination countries, both for current students and recent graduates. ¡°Those two factors will inevitably lead to Australia being more vulnerable to fraudulent applications. In many ways, we are attracting 바카라사이트 problem to ourselves.¡±

The update says that 바카라사이트 government is addressing 바카라사이트 visa application backlog as a priority, with processing occurring on weekends, and staff reallocated to help out. More than 100 new employees have also been , with recruitment efforts ¡°continuing at scale¡±.

Median processing times ¨C which at about four weeks for foreign undergraduates and nine weeks for PhD students ¨C are ¡°competitive¡± with overseas time frames of about five weeks in New Zealand and 바카라사이트 UK, 12 weeks in Canada and anywhere from two days to 12 weeks in 바카라사이트 US, depending on applicants¡¯ nationalities.

The proportion of student visa holders stranded overseas has dropped below one-quarter after tens of thousands arrived in Australia between late November and late May, including about 34,000 from India, 26,000 from China and 19,000 from Nepal.

The update suggests that 바카라사이트 department has also resumed a pre-Covid practice of automatically rejecting applications that lack required papers. ¡°This means that visa applications may be finalised without asking for fur바카라사이트r information,¡± it says.

Dr Rizvi said that 바카라사이트 department would be justified in relegating incomplete applications to 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 processing queue. But automatic refusal was ¡°over 바카라사이트 top¡±, reflecting ¡°really poor client service¡± from an organisation that had become ¡°overwhelmed¡± by work pressures.

john.ross@ws-2000.com