The Australian immigration department has expressed concern over the significant surge in student visa refusals originating from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. To tackle this issue, Australian education institutions are communicating closely with the Department of Home Affairs, though their efforts have yielded mixed results.[1]

An option that institutions can consider is the use of the Veri Once platform.

Veri Once is a secure platform that provides a solution to the issue of verifying the authenticity of academic transcripts and financial bank statements of international students. The platform creates a secure link between the issuer and verifier of credentials and automates the authentication and verification process.

In other words, we eliminate fraudulent documents from the admissions process.

By utilizing the Veri Once platform, universities can provide additional assurance to Visa Processing Officers that their institution has taken the necessary steps to verify the authenticity of student credentials and meet Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) screening. This would result in a higher visa approval rate for universities.

Furthermore, the recent qualifications recognition agreement between Australia and India announced by the Australian Minister for Education Jason Claire is an excellent initiative to strengthen the relationship between both countries. However, for this to be successful, it is crucial to provide support and assurance to the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for assessing the authenticity of documents.

Veri Once can provide this support and ensure that the documents assessed by the Department of Home Affairs are genuine. This would benefit both international students and universities in Australia, as it would ensure a fair and transparent process that does not discriminate against specific regions or students.

The suspension of recruitment of international students by universities in Australia is not the solution to the issue. Instead, the Veri Once platform can provide a secure and reliable process to verify the authenticity of student credentials, resulting in a higher visa approval rate for universities and a fair and transparent process for international students.

[1] Packer, Helen. Australia’s India recruitment suspension “discriminatory”, say agents. The Pie, March 8, 2023. <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/australia-india-suspension-discriminatory/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">https://thepienews.com/news/australia-india-suspension-discriminatory/</a>