Alghawi (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the cancellation of a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector), held by the applicant, Mr Alghawi. The dispute centred on whether the grounds for cancellation existed and, if so, whether the discretion to cancel the visa should be exercised.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had contravened a condition of his visa, specifically condition 8516, which mandates that a visa holder must continue to satisfy the criteria for the grant of their visa. This involved assessing whether the applicant remained enrolled in a higher education course as required by his visa subclass. The Tribunal also had to consider whether, if the ground for cancellation was established, the Minister's discretion to cancel the visa should be exercised, taking into account all relevant circumstances.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had contravened condition 8516 because his PRISMS records indicated he was not enrolled in a higher education level course after August 2013. Despite the applicant's claims of poor advice and an intention to use vocational education and training (VET) courses as a pathway to higher education, the Tribunal was not satisfied by the evidence that he was on track to complete his VET studies or that he genuinely intended to return to higher education. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered adverse information provided by the applicant's ex-wife, which suggested he was not a genuine student and intended to lodge a Partner visa application onshore. The Tribunal concluded that the ground for cancellation existed and, considering all circumstances, exercised its discretion to affirm the decision to cancel the visa.