AMANDEEP v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Amandeep, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse her application for a student visa. The dispute centred on whether Amandeep had satisfied the applicable criteria for the visa, specifically the criterion relating to financial capacity. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether Amandeep had met the financial capacity requirements for the student visa. This involved determining the relevance of financial evidence that predated her application by twelve months and considering the effect of amendments to the student visa regulations that came into force in 2016. The Court also had to assess whether these amendments had retrospective application.

Judge A. Kelly found that the evidence of financial capacity provided by Amandeep predated her visa application by a significant period. The Department had requested further, more detailed financial information to ascertain her financial profile, but this was not provided. Consequently, the Court concluded that the criterion of financial capacity had not been satisfied. Furthermore, the Court determined that the amendments to the student visa regulations, which took effect in 2016, were not retrospective and therefore did not apply to Amandeep's application. As the applicable criteria were not satisfied, the application was dismissed.