Tougher visa screening for Nepalis going to study in Oz

Indian as well as Nepali students aspiring to study in Australia will be subjected to tougher visa screening.

The move comes in the wake of the Australian government tightening the screws on both fraudulent educational institutions and on students who misrepresent their financial capacity to study Down Under.

"The message is clear. Genuine international students remain welcome in Australia, but we will not tolerate fraud in the student visa programme," Australia's minister for immigration and citizenship, Chris Evans, has announced.

Besides the student visa cases from India, those from Brazil, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan and Zimbabwe will also come under scrutiny. Student visas from Sri Lanka and Vietnam are already under watch.

Australian immigration authorities have said they will try to rule out fraud by upgrading the interview programme, and removing or restricting eVisa access for some agents suspected of engaging in fraud or inactivity.

"These measures are consistent with those used by other countries that receive large numbers of student visa applications, such as the US," Senator Evans said.

Australia refused almost 28,000 student visas last year, an increase of 68 per cent over the number in 2007-08.

Australia is trying hard to restore the credibility of its A$ 15.5-billion (Rs 62,000 crore) overseas education sector, which has been hit by the adverse coverage of racist attacks on Indian students as well as stories of seedy agents and teaching shops that dupe students.

On his recent visit to Australia, foreign minister S.M. Krishna had spoken out against the "dubious" educational institutions in Australia and had called for new regulations to cover private colleges.

On Wednesday, Australia's deputy prime minister and minister for education Julia Gillard - who is due to travel to India soon - warned education providers that they risk being shut down if they don't comply with rules relating to international students.

Gillard has tabled an amendment to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 in Parliament.

If passed, all the educational institutions that are now on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students will be required to re-register under the new and tougher criteria by December 31, 2010.

A rapid review of 17 out of 250 private education providers accepting international students is now underway in Victoria - which has a bulk of Australia's 97,000 Indian students.

"We recognise that some providers are not delivering the quality of education we would like them to deliver. We have identified them on a set of risk criteria," Victoria's skills and workforce participation minister Jacinta Allan said.

Allan emphasised that if found wanting, the registration of the education providers may be cancelled - but not at the cost of the students.