In what will come as bad news for Bhutanese students hoping to study in Australia, the Australian Department of Education has sent out a notification dropping Bhutan’s student visa Assessment Level (AL) from the current AL 2 to AL 3.
This essentially means stricter scrutiny of Bhutanese student visa applications, which may lead to longer turnaround or wait times and a likely rise in rejection rates.
According to the news site thekoalanews.com, the Assistant Minister for Education Julian Hill told the CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), Phil Honeywood, that on his recent trip through South Asia, he was provided with what he believes to be clear evidence of an upsurge in fraudulent financial and academic aspects of applications.
According to the Immigration Agent Perth website, the countries in this category (AL 3) are subject to the strictest checks because of the increased perceived risks. Applicants must provide extensive evidence, often listed in the student visa assessment level 3 checklist, including financial statements, detailed study justifications, and strong ties to their home country.
AL 2 countries face moderate requirements. They are required to have some form of proof of funds and English language competency, but have faster approvals than Level 3 countries.
AL 1 nations have low documentation demands. When their provider has high compliance records, applicants do not need detailed financial documents or the results of English tests.
Such students enjoy a reduced processing time and a lower likelihood of rejection.
The Chairperson of the Association of Bhutanese Education Consultancies (ABEC), Palden Tshering, did not mince his words.
He said, “We’ve failed. The actions of a few in our industry have now jeopardized the future of every Bhutanese applicant, and we are to blame. Until a higher standard is collectively put in place, Bhutan will be categorized as the highest risk for Australia, and that’s a shame on us.”
Palden said that compliance is not meant to be easy; it sets a standard.
There are now two consequences for Bhutan. One is that all students will face higher requirements, documents will be heavily scrutinized for genuineness by the institutions and the visa officers, longer visa approval times, and more likely higher visa rejections.
The second related impact is that Australian tourist visa applicants from Bhutan will be screened with a higher bar to prove that they are a temporary visitor, and the inevitable influence of Bhutan now being highest risk leads to tourist visa refusals.
He added, “My intent is to be as blunt as possible, we need to change, and if being direct leads to that change, that’s what we need. During the next assessment level review, if we do enough, maybe it can change, and if we don’t, it won’t.”
Palden said for students, the average wait time AL 1 visa turnaround time is within 4 weeks, AL 2 visa turnaround time within 4-6 weeks and AL 3 visa turnaround time 8-12 weeks regardless of when travel dates are.
The only other time Bhutan was in the AL 3 category was in November 2005 but at the time there was AL 4 level too. The system changed in 2016 with only three levels.
This means that this is Bhutan’s lowest ranking yet.
