1607087 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking review of a decision not to grant a Subclass 485 visa. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the health insurance requirements stipulated by clause 485.215 of the Migration Regulations.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied both limbs of clause 485.215. This clause requires that at the time of application, the applicant must have provided evidence of adequate health insurance arrangements in Australia, and that such arrangements must have been maintained continuously from the time of application.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) valid from September 2015 to September 2016 and believed this satisfied the requirement at the time of her visa application on 14 January 2016. However, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not provide evidence of this OSHC with her application, nor did she respond to a subsequent request for information from the Department. While the applicant later obtained private health insurance with Bupa on 6 May 2016, this did not rectify the failure to meet the initial evidentiary requirement at the time of lodgement. The Tribunal concluded that it had no discretion to overlook this mandatory requirement.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the Subclass 485 visa, as she failed to satisfy the criteria under clause 485.215.