Abdullah (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision not to grant the applicant a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The applicant had not provided requested information within the allowed period and was not currently enrolled in a course of study, lacking a confirmation of enrolment. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, constituted by Member Damian Creedon, was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 500.211(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which requires an applicant to be enrolled in a full-time registered course of study at the time of the decision. A "registered course" is defined by reference to the *Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000* and the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), managed through the PRISMS system.

The Tribunal reasoned that the PRISMS system, maintained by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment and used by the Department of Home Affairs, serves as a reliable record of student enrolments for visa assessment purposes. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the Tribunal accepted PRISMS as an accurate reflection of enrolment status. As the applicant's enrolment was not confirmed in PRISMS at the time of the decision, the Tribunal was not satisfied that clause 500.211(a) was met. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the visa.