Ali (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa by a Pakistani national. The applicant had ceased his Master of Information Technology studies in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and had not undertaken any further studies since that time. The delegate of the Department of Home Affairs refused to grant the visa, finding that the applicant did not satisfy the primary criterion under clause 500.211(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires an applicant to be enrolled in a registered course of study at the time of the decision. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to review this decision.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was enrolled in a full-time registered course of study, as defined by the Regulations, at the time of the delegate's decision. The Tribunal considered the definition of a "course of study" as a "full-time registered course" and a "registered course" as one provided by an institution registered under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. The applicant did not claim to meet any alternative criteria within clause 500.211.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had candidly admitted to not being enrolled in any course since ceasing his studies at Charles Sturt University in July 2020, a period of over three years. While the applicant had proposed undertaking a Master of Business Administration at UBSS, he confirmed he never took up these proposed studies and maintained an intention to complete his original Master of Information Technology course. Crucially, there was no evidence presented to the Tribunal demonstrating current enrolment in any registered course of study that met the visa requirements. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant failed to satisfy the primary criterion under clause 500.211(a).

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the visa.