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Visa Assessment Level

We are certain that you have heard of assessment level quite often. But what is assessment level ? And how does it affect your visa application?

Assessment level is a standard or measurement based on estimated immigration-breaching risk indicated by students from certain country in the education sector they are applying in. Every country and every education level are assigned certain assessment level, ranging from 1 to 5. 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest risk.

 

How does this affect my visa application?

The higher assessment level you are in, means the more evidence you must provide for visa application process. So the nationality of the applicant really play a big part to obtain a visa. For example, it is easier for students with Canadian citizenship (assessment level 1) to enter Australia compared to those coming from Sri Lanka (assessment level 4).

There are 7 types of student visas for which Assessment levels are affected.

1. Independent English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) (Subclass 570)
2. Schools (Subclass 571)
3. Vocational Education and Training (VET) (Subclass 572)
4. Higher Education (Subclass 573)
5. Postgraduate Research (Subclass 574)
6. Non-award (Subclass 575)
7. AusAID and Defence (Subclass 576).

The full list of assessment level for each country and education sector can be viewed or downloaded here.

 

Streamlined visa processing

To be qualified for streamlined visa processing, you must provide your confirmation of enrolment from the university. There are only certain courses and universities which work with this approach. If you are eligible for streamlined visa processing, you will be considered as low immigration risk regardless which nationality you are from.

 

What should I prepare?

As we have mentioned above, every student from different nationality has different set of requirements depends on which assessment level he/she is in. We have this table that you can utilize as a basic guideline of what documents you will need to prepare. The requirement might be updated and changed from time to time. For more information about your assessment level or streamlined visa processing, talk to our staff, and we will be glad to help you out.

Assessment Level	Evidence of English proficiency	Evidence of financial capacity	Academic Requirement
1	Enrolment by education provider	A declaration that they have sufficient funds to support their entire stay in Australia	Enrolment by education provider
2	Enrolment by education provider	• Evidence of funds from an acceptable source to pay for their expenses for the first 12 months of their stay • A declaration that they have sufficient funds to support the remainder of their stay in Australian Note: Funds can be provided by any individual willing to support the applicant if they can demonstrate their income stream.	Postgraduate Research: Undergraduate degree All other sectors: enrolment by education provider
3	ELICOS and Schools: enrolment by education provider VET and Non-Award: 5.5 IELTS or equivalent from a specified alternative English language test (AELT*), or 4.5 IELTS or AELT equivalent with a preliminary ELICOS course Higher education and Postgraduate Research: 6.0 IELTS or AELT equivalent or 5.0 IELTS or AELT* equivalent with ELICOS course	• Evidence of funds from an acceptable source (a money deposit or a loan with an acceptable financial institution) to pay for their expenses for the first 18 months of their stay (or duration of preliminary plus first 12 months of principal course for Postgraduate Research) • A declaration that they have sufficient funds to support the remainder of their stay in Australiann Note: Funds can be provided by any individual willing to support the applicant if they can demonstrate their income stream. If evidence of funds is a money deposit, must show a three months saving history.	Schools:Completed year six VET: Completed year 11 Higher Education: Completed year 12 or year 11 and foundation studies or Certificate IV Postgraduate Research: Undergraduate degree
4	Independent ELICOS: enrolment by education provider Schools: If over 16 years, 5.0 IELTS or AELT* equivalent or 4.0 IELTS or AELT equivalent with preliminary ELICOS VET and Non-Award: 5.5 IELTS or AELT equivalent or 5.0 IELTS or AELT equivalent with a preliminary ELICOS course Higher Education and Postgraduate Research: 6.0 IELTS or AELT* equivalent or 5.0 IELTS or AELT equivalent with ELICOS course	• Evidence of funds from an acceptable source (a money deposit or a loan with an acceptable financial institution) to pay for their expenses for the first 24 months of their stay (or duration of preliminary plus first 12 months of principal course for Postgraduate Research) • A declaration that they have sufficient funds to support the remainder of their stay in Australia • Funds must be provided by close relatives only who can demonstrate their income stream Note: If evidence of funds is a money deposit, must show a three months savings history.	Schools: Completed year nine VET: Completed year 12 Higher Education: Completed year 12 or year 11 and foundation studies or Certificate IV Postgraduate Research: Undergraduate degree
5	Independent ELICOS: enrolment by education provider All other subclasses: IELTS 7.0 or AELT equivalent	• Evidence of funds (money deposits) to pay for their expenses for the full period of their stay • Funds must be provided by the applicant • Evidence of income stream Note: If evidence of funds is a money deposit, must show a five year savings history.	Postgraduate Research: Undergraduate degree All other sectors: Year 12. Evidence of relevance to current or prospective employment