1516827 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered whether to set aside a decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 571 Schools Sector student visa. The applicant's visa was cancelled on the grounds that they had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically by not being enrolled in a registered course of study. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had indeed breached this condition and, if so, whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not complied with condition 8202(2) of the Regulations, as they were not enrolled in a registered course of study between 17 July 2015 and 17 November 2015. However, the Tribunal then considered its discretion to cancel the visa. It took into account that the applicant had initially travelled to Australia with the intention to study and had not breached other visa conditions. Crucially, the Tribunal accepted evidence that the applicant's failure to maintain enrolment was due to extenuating circumstances, including the closure of their initial college's international program and the subsequent unexpected closure of another college they were quickly enrolled in by an agent, a fact supported by media reports.

Given these circumstances, the Tribunal concluded that the visa should not be cancelled. The decision under review was set aside, and a substituted decision was made not to cancel the applicant's Subclass 571 Schools Sector visa.