1835768 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of a student visa holder whose visa was cancelled. The applicant, an Italian national, sought to have the cancellation decision reviewed. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had breached a condition of her student visa, leading to its cancellation under section 116(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had complied with condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and to maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance. If a breach of this condition was found, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had breached condition 8202(2) as she was not enrolled in a registered course at the time of the cancellation. She had ceased enrolment in a Certificate III and consequently could not complete a subsequent Certificate IV. While acknowledging the applicant's compelling reasons for leaving Italy, including escaping a difficult personal situation involving criminal proceedings against her ex-partner and seeking to rebuild her life and improve her English in Australia, the Tribunal determined that these circumstances did not outweigh the breach of the visa condition. The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.