Managing USIs

Question: 

We often come across scenarios where a student is requesting a name change that is not
supported by their passport (e.g. the Passport indicates a single name, but they are
requesting to change to First Name/Last Name). We find that the reason for this is, the visa
has First Name/Last Name, and therefore USI Registry has First Name/Last Name. So in this
case, the visa is wrong (ie. It doesn’t fully match the passport). Are we expected to update
the student’s name in this case to First Name/Last Name, to match USI registry, despite the
fact that it doesn’t match the passport?

Answer:

Yes.
The USI Registry System uses the Document Verification Service (DVS) to verify the
student’s identity and create a USI. Therefore, the student must enter their name within
the USI Registry System exactly as it appears on their verifiable identification for DVS to
verify. This means the name on the USI will only verify with what is recorded by the
document issuer.
In this example, DVS will use the Australian visa to verify the student’s ID. If the visa has
the student’s name entered into the First/Given and Family/Last name fields, the USI will
be created using the same format, otherwise the identification will not be verified by DVS.
If the student believes their name is incorrect on their identity document, they need to
contact the issuer to have it corrected. For example, to update an incorrect visa, the
student must contact the Department of Home Affairs.
After the document issuer confirms it is corrected, the student can then update their USI
account.

Question:

In the February letter to HoSA members, the following Q and A was included:

a. Question: The student has a first name and middle name on their verifiable
identification. I have entered their name in our SMS in just the first name field. Will it
verify?
b. Answer: It may not. If it doesn’t, request the student share their USI via and enter the
details in your SMS to match.
The names in our student management system are self-entered by students at the point of
application. If there is a mismatch with USI based on name order, due to students entering
their names into incorrect fields, does this mean that education providers are advised to
change the student name to match name order in the USI registry regardless of how the
name order appears on identity documents?
 

Answer:

When a student creates a USI, the USI Registry System verifies their identity using DVS.
Therefore, the student’s details on the institution’s SMS must match the USI to then be
verified by Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI).
If the student believes their name is incorrect on their identity document, they need to

contact the issuer and have it corrected. The student can then change their USI using the
updated identification and then the university SMS can be updated to match.
If a student has verifiable identification in multiple names, ask them to be consistent with
the identification they provide.

Question:

How does the USI Office handle students with accents, diacritics or full stops in their names?

Students prefer to retain accents, but the USI Office does not verify them. Since accents are not reported in TCSI data, are errors flagged due to this considered actual USI errors?

Answer:

We must record name details according to the information held by the document issuer, diacritics are not officially supported on verifiable forms of identification. Although a passport may contain diacritics in what is known as the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ), the Visa or the machine readable zone (MRZ) of the passport used for verification contains accepted diacritic conversions.\

For further information about TCSI errors please seek advice from TCSI.

Question: 

Will the USI Office address the 40-character limit on names? In the past, USI have shortened student names to meet this limit, but students rightly want their full names on their documentation.

Answer:

There are no plans to increase the 40 character limit. The character limit in the USI Registry System aligns to both TCSI and ATO:

- First/Given Name: 40 characters

- Middle Name/s: 80 characters

- Family/Last Name: 40 characters

Where a student’s name exceeds these limits, the student should contact USI for assistance on 1300 857 536.

Question: 

When an institution verifies a USI via the Org Portal, can they only view the ‘First/Given Name’ and ‘Family/Last Name’ in the search field, there is no ‘Middle Name/s’ search field?

Answer:

The minimum dataset required to successfully verify a USI via the Organisation Portal includes:

• • USI
• • First/Given name
• • Family/Last name
• • OR single name only
• • Date of birth.

Consequently, there is no middle name field.

Question: 

How does it handle nonstandard characters some students have a full stop on their passport in their name, but they can’t really add that.

Answer:

Hyphens and standard apostrophes can be included in the USI name fields if the student has a form of identification that reflects those characters in their name. DVS and the USI Registry do not support an extended character range, such as diacritics (accents).

We must record name details according to the information held by the document issuer and full stops are not verifiable on a passport. Although a passport may contain full stops in the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ), the Visa or the machine readable zone (MRZ) of the passport used for verification will not contain special characters.

Question: 

I see middle names was labelled (optional). Does this mean its optional to add the middle name to USI registry or that the field is (optional) in terms of use case in case people don’t have middle names?

Answer:

The Middle Name field is optional as not all students have a middle name. Some verifiable forms of identification will require a middle name to be entered into the respective USI Registry field to meet DVS requirements. For example, a Medicare card with an initial representing the middle name may require the full middle name to be entered.

Question: 

All DVS documents don’t show a difference between First/Middle names, therefore, why is the middle name not part of the verification? And why can it not be considered as a concatenation of first/middle name?

Answer:

An identification document may not visually discern between a first and middle name. However, the DVS will check this against the issuing government department’s formatting. A first and middle name cannot be concatenated (linked) to verify if it is not entered that way on the document issuer’s registry.

Question: 

DVS doesn’t allow special characters (such as a full stop) – so passport has a full stop, but the visa removes the full stop, and so the University will record the name based on the passport (i.e. with full stop) but the USI won’t verify because DVS won’t include the full stop. Again it creates an issue at graduation time – because the student updates their name for USI verification, then changes it to their legal name for graduation, but the USI then verifies.

Answer:

We must record name details according to the information held by the document issuer and full stops are not verifiable on a passport. Although a passport may contain full stops in the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ), the Visa or the machine readable zone (MRZ) of the passport used for verification will not contain special characters.

Question: 

One concern with DVS is that I have seen instances where a student has a passport with their full first name i.e. Bradley but the license says Brad. We ask students to provide their full legal name for graduation purposes so then there will be a mismatch if the license is used for DVS, and we are using their passport for legal name, or it was used by the ATO. It seems not all documents in DVS are necessarily the same.

Answer:

Unfortunately a student may have several verifiable forms of identification.

Students should use the same verifiable identification document/s to:

• enrol
• apply for their Tax File Number (TFN); and
• create their USI.

Question: 

How does the USI Office define a 'valid USI'? Does it solely refer to the students USI being
accurate and belonging to them, or does it also include the verification of personal details
between the USI Office and the institution? If a student’s personal details with the
institution does not match USI Office, however the USI is accurate, is the student considered
to have an invalid USI or is this verification issue?

Answer:

A USI is created using identification which is verified through DVS. If DVS has verified the
identification, then the student’s USI is valid.
It is a verification issue if the student’s personal details with the institution does not match
their USI. A list of verifiable identification documents can be found on the USI website
here - https://www.usi.gov.au/students/identification.

Question:

How can we ensure the accuracy of DVS checks when original documentation contains errors due to processes by Home Affairs (e.g., discrepancies in names on visa grant notices)?  For domestic students, license and passport information don’t always align. What is considered the source of truth on these occasions?

Answer:

If DVS confirms the verifiable identification document used to create a USI, then the USI is the ‘source of truth’. If the student believes there is an error in the identification document they used to create their USI, they need to contact the document issuer to havenit corrected. When a student has multiple verifiable documents, they should use the document which presents their legal name.

Question:

ATO also use DVS, yet we have students who have different names on MyGov and USI Registry.

Answer:

Different names and/or formats may be possible where a student has multiple forms of verifiable identification. Each government issuing department may potentially record the student’s name differently, enabling each document to successfully match DVS criteria.

We recommend that students choose one form of verifiable identification to create/update all their services. It is important that the same verifiable identification is used to create a USI as well as a Tax File Number as these two elements are used by TCSI to verify student identification.

For further information see Update your name | Australian Taxation Office.

Question:

I’ve had a recent enquiry where a student recently changed their legal name, but the only form of ID they have reflecting this change is their driver’s license. Student has advised that Service NSW only accepts one name as a first name, so they placed the second part of the students first name as their middle name instead. The USI registry has followed this approach and recorded the students’ names accordingly, but this still doesn’t match their change of name certificate. Does USI registry accept change of name certificates? Not sure of the best way to get a verification in this situation.

Answer:

We are unable to comment on the conventions of other government departments. Unfortunately, the USI does not accept change of name certificates. The student may update their name using an alternative form of verifiable identification.

A list of identification documents that are verifiable through the Document Verification Service can be found on our website - https://www.usi.gov.au/students/identification.

Question:

How can the USI be the source of truth for a student’s name as opposed to myGov as USI is something created much later?

Answer:

For the purposes of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 (the Act), the USI is considered the ‘source of truth’ because it has been created using a verifiable form of identification via DVS.

The Act mandates the USI must be verified before the conferral of an award.

A student may have multiple verifiable identification documents all showing a variation in their name. If so, it is important that the student uses the one identification document for the purposes of creating a USI or their myGov account. If a student has created their myGov account using their birth certificate and created their USI using their driver’s licence, they can use their birth certificate to update their personal details on their USI account via the Student Portal. Only by using the same verifiable identification document will USI and myGov match.

Question:

What happens if a student has multiple identities? For example, I am known as 4 different names and have a change of name certificate saying all 4 names. Why can’t the USI have the same system (known as 4 different names).

Answer:

DVS is used to verify the student’s identity and create a USI.. We do not store identity documents, and we cannot verify or store an individual’s alias.

Question:

This is probably legislatively restricted but is there anything in the works to loosen accuracy requirements, as the actual USI number can act as the link? Example you have a middle name as part of the first name field and the last name has a hyphen in one system. But in the USI registry its slightly different and doesn’t have a hyphen since you have the matching USI. Can the system just match these ID’s or is this not possible in the legislation?

Answer:

DVS is used by the USI Registry System to verify a student’s name against one form of verifiable identification when creating or updating a USI. The personal details need to match exactly.

Question:

Students must provide a verified USI before census date. If a student has provided a verified USI before the first census date in their first session of study, are we required to re-verify  before the census date of each subsequent session of study? Or can the USI be verified once. before the first census date, and then once more before the award is granted?

Answer:

A student must have a USI in order to enrol in a Commonwealth Support Place (CSP),access Commonwealth financial assistance or receive their award.
Please refer to TCSI to confirm the required frequency for verifying a USI.

Question:

Resolving USI errors can be time-consuming, especially when discrepancies are discovered close to Census dates (for commonwealth assisted students) or Conferral deadlines. Does the USI Office have recommendations for managing such issues, particularly when they involve external parties like home affairs for visa grant notices?

Answer:

We encourage all providers to obtain a student’s USI as soon as possible to allow for correction of errors prior to census date. If the identification document presents the student’s name incorrectly, the student must contact the document issuer to request a correction. Following the correction, if the student continues to experience trouble creating a USI, they should contact us on 1300 857 536.

Question:

If a student commenced a course in 2022, and decided to change to another course in 2023 and this course is now completed, the student is offshore and study is continuous (like a course transfer), will the student need to : a) advise of auto exemption (due to 1st course commencement), or b) provide an exemption letter (apply via USI registry)

Answer:

If a student commences a course and decides to transfer mid-way to a new course leading to a different award, regardless of any recognition of prior learning credits attributed from the first course, the second course is considered a new course of study. The USI requirements will need to be met as at the commencement of the second course of study, which began in 2023.

From 1 January 2023, all higher education students, including those who commenced prior to 2021, must have a USI to:

• be eligible for a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) and Commonwealth financial assistance (HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, OS-HELP, SA-HELP)
• to graduate and receive their award.

Exceptions to this requirement include:

• international students who completed 100% of their studies offshore.
• international students who commenced their course of study before 1 January 2023 and are offshore at the time of their award conferral (auto exempt).

any student who applies for and is granted an exemption from being assigned a USI and provides the exemption letter to their provider (this is not a preferred option as the Registrar may not be inclined to approve such requests).

Question:

Please clarify our obligations for a student who accepts an offer of admission but then does not enrol and returns a USI mismatch. If the offer is then lapsed after census due to no enrolment, and the student is not responding, are we required to correct the USI mismatch?

Answer:

If the student does not enrol, there is no requirement to obtain and verify a USI.

Question:

Our graduation has been decoupled with conferral taking place before the ceremonies. What are the implications if an international student arrives prior to conferral to attend their ceremony, and they commenced their course prior to 2023?

Answer:

If the student returns to Australia prior to conferral, ask them to create a USI. If conferral has already taken place and they only return for the graduation ceremony they are auto exempt given they commenced their course prior to 1 January 2023 and were offshore at the time of award conferral.

Question:

We have encountered several errors not detected in TCSI reporting. Why might this occur, and is the institution responsible for resolving these issues with the student, or do we wait for them to come via TCSI?

Answer:

Please refer to TCSI for advice

Question:

Is it ever appropriate for an institution to not rectify a name change (to match USI Office) where they are satisfied with what is causing the error, supported by student documentation. For example, If a student’s identification documentation is updated with their married name, however they have a preference for their student record and documentation to have their maiden name?

Answer:

A student is only able to update their USI using identification that can be verified by DVS. If the student’s identification document has been updated to reflect a name change, and they have used the same identification to then update their USI, the student record at the institution must reflect the USI.

If the student’s enrolment details at the institution is different to the student’s USI, TCSI will not verify the student.

Question: 

Are students able to update their name from Given/Surname to only one name? We have had a few students with only given names, but they were split in the portal (only given names on Passport but split names on visa).

Answer:

If the original form of identification used to create the USI was incorrect, and the document issuer has corrected the identification, the student can update their name through the Student Portal. The student can use the corrected identification to update the format of their name.

If the student visa has been updated to a single name, the student can update their name in their USI account by using the new student visa document.

The document verification service (DVS) is used to verify a student’s identity when a USI is created as well as when personal details are changed on a USI account

Question:

Does USI talk directly with myGov / TCSI regarding First name, Middle name, Family name formatting? It can often be really difficult to confirm with students what is the correct name especially since all platforms are displayed differently / doesn’t specify the different types of names.

Answer:

TCSI will interface with the USI Registry System to enable verification of student USIs.

A student can only link their USI to their myGov account if their personal details match.

A student should use the same verifiable identification document to create their myGov account and create their Unique Student Identifier (USI) and Tax File Number (TFN)

Question:

The student’s Help loan won’t commit in TCSI with this approach

Students need to match in all 3 places though. So even if the USI is correct, the student still needs to fix the ATO, or they can’t defer their fees to their HELP loan

The student name as linked to TFN does not match USI

The TFN name has apparently gone through the same DVS service

The core issue is that the ATO and USI are not discussing this issue between the two agencies

Answer:

Students seeking financial assistance should use the same verifiable identification document to create both their Tax File Number (TFN) and Unique Student Identifier (USI).

If students need to update their First/Given name, Family/Last name, or date of birth they will need a verifiable identification document to update BOTH their :

• TFN registration details and
• USI account details.

Question:

Can I ask, I have a Chinese passport holder, whose USI creation flipped her first and surname, so it doesn’t match myGov and her student profile. USI said they cannot change this. What can we do?\

Answer:

The student should contact the Department of Home Affairs to have their name formatting corrected on their Australian visa. Once amended they can update their name on their USI account using the non-Australian passport and Australian visa.

Question:

Most of our issues relate to name splitting between systems. E.g. First name in USI contains First and middle or vice versa. Unusual ones we have seen unusual records such as diacritical, u; represented as ‘ue’ in USI? Also notable was a single name, presenting as identical First name / Last name

Answer:

Higher education providers should match the name recorded on the student's USI account. Request the student share their USI via emailing or printing a USI and enter/update the details in your SMS to match.

Question:

How is the importance of having identical information with the USI registry and education providers communicated, it would be helpful to have this more highlighted

Answer:

We regularly communicate USI matters via our eNewsletter . For the latest news and updates subscribe here.

We will also be updating the USI website to advise students to use the same verifiable identification when creating a USI, Tax File Number and myGov account.

Question:

Sounds like USI need to re-look at their system to better work with providers. I would suggest as I have multiple times with the ATO, and it works very well

Answer:

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and we are always looking to improve our business practices with our external stakeholders.

We will also be updating the USI website to advise students to use the same verifiable identification when creating a USI, Tax File Number and myGov account.

Question:

Is there anything like a ‘USI network’ similar to like fees or grands network and im sure there are others for sharing / discussing things across institutions?

Answer:

We are unfamiliar with the networks you mention. However you can refer to the USI website for information or you can subscribe to our eNewsletter here. - Updates and Announcements | Unique Student Identifier