1905508 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a decision to cancel the Bridging C (Class WC) visa, Subclass 030, held by the applicant. The dispute arose because the applicant failed to respond to an invitation issued under section 359A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Crucially, the applicant had been assessed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) as posing a direct or indirect risk to security.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the cancellation of the applicant's visa was mandated given the ASIO assessment and the applicant's failure to respond to the section 359A invitation. The Tribunal was required to determine if the conditions for mandatory visa cancellation under the Migration Act and Regulations had been met, and if any discretion was available to it in such circumstances.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had been assessed by ASIO as a risk to security, which satisfied the ground for cancellation under section 116(1)(g) of the Migration Act and regulation 2.43(1)(b) of the Migration Regulations. The Tribunal noted that in these specific circumstances, where a visa holder is assessed by ASIO as a risk to security, the Tribunal has no discretion to refuse to cancel the visa. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 030 Bridging C visa.