In an unusual out-of-cycle decision announced on 9 January 2026, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has re-rated India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan from Evidence Level 2 to Evidence Level 3 for student-visa (subclass 500) processing. Evidence Level 3 is the strictest integrity setting in Australia’s Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF) and is normally reserved for countries with high fraud or non-compliance risk. The upgrade means applicants from the four South-Asian markets must now supply significantly more documentation—bank statements covering at least three months, detailed source-of-funds evidence, and authenticated academic transcripts—before a case officer will finalise their visa. Spot checks with education providers and biometrics cross-matching with Interpol will also increase.
Home Affairs officials say the change responds to a spike in forged bank guarantees and fake degree certificates uncovered during November–December 2025 peak lodgement. An Indian police raid that seized 1,200 counterfeit graduation parchments is understood to have been a tipping point. Former Immigration deputy secretary Dr Abul Rizvi told media the revision is “highly unusual” because evidence levels are normally reviewed only every two years. Industry sources confirm the move was fast-tracked after intelligence briefings with the Department of Education and the Australian Federal Police.
Amid the tighter rules, specialist facilitation services such as VisaHQ can help applicants stay ahead of the curve. Via its Australian portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), VisaHQ pre-screens financial statements, arranges apostilles and translations, books biometrics appointments and monitors policy updates—support that can prevent costly errors and reduce overall processing time for students, dependants and sponsoring institutions alike.
![Australia lifts student-visa evidence level for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan]()
For universities and vocational colleges, the higher evidence level is a double-edged sword. Tighter screening should help weed out non-genuine students who use education visas as a back door to low-skilled work, protecting Australia’s $48-billion international-education sector from reputational damage. On the downside, processing times may lengthen from the current median of 14 days to four-to-six weeks, forcing providers to push back orientation timetables or offer more online commencement options.
Corporate mobility managers also need to recalibrate. Executives relocating to Australia often bundle dependants’ student visas with their own Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) applications. HR teams now face extra lead time and cost if a spouse or child holds an Indian, Nepali, Bangladeshi or Bhutanese passport. Some employers are considering switching to dependent-child visas or delaying family moves until visas are granted.
Practically, agents are advising applicants to front-load police clearances, biometrics and medicals, and to provide verifiable digital bank statements rather than scanned PDFs. Education counsellors in Delhi and Kathmandu are running emergency webinars on how to assemble a ‘decision-ready’ file. While no application caps have been announced, the higher bar will likely reduce overall approvals from these markets in 2026, helping the government meet its target of trimming net overseas migration without imposing hard quotas on genuine students.
Home Affairs officials say the change responds to a spike in forged bank guarantees and fake degree certificates uncovered during November–December 2025 peak lodgement. An Indian police raid that seized 1,200 counterfeit graduation parchments is understood to have been a tipping point. Former Immigration deputy secretary Dr Abul Rizvi told media the revision is “highly unusual” because evidence levels are normally reviewed only every two years. Industry sources confirm the move was fast-tracked after intelligence briefings with the Department of Education and the Australian Federal Police.
Amid the tighter rules, specialist facilitation services such as VisaHQ can help applicants stay ahead of the curve. Via its Australian portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), VisaHQ pre-screens financial statements, arranges apostilles and translations, books biometrics appointments and monitors policy updates—support that can prevent costly errors and reduce overall processing time for students, dependants and sponsoring institutions alike.
For universities and vocational colleges, the higher evidence level is a double-edged sword. Tighter screening should help weed out non-genuine students who use education visas as a back door to low-skilled work, protecting Australia’s $48-billion international-education sector from reputational damage. On the downside, processing times may lengthen from the current median of 14 days to four-to-six weeks, forcing providers to push back orientation timetables or offer more online commencement options.
Corporate mobility managers also need to recalibrate. Executives relocating to Australia often bundle dependants’ student visas with their own Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) applications. HR teams now face extra lead time and cost if a spouse or child holds an Indian, Nepali, Bangladeshi or Bhutanese passport. Some employers are considering switching to dependent-child visas or delaying family moves until visas are granted.
Practically, agents are advising applicants to front-load police clearances, biometrics and medicals, and to provide verifiable digital bank statements rather than scanned PDFs. Education counsellors in Delhi and Kathmandu are running emergency webinars on how to assemble a ‘decision-ready’ file. While no application caps have been announced, the higher bar will likely reduce overall approvals from these markets in 2026, helping the government meet its target of trimming net overseas migration without imposing hard quotas on genuine students.
