Arshad v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Arshad, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Tribunal had refused Arshad's application for a student visa. The central dispute concerned the basis upon which the Tribunal reached its decision, specifically whether it had made a jurisdictional error.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was whether the Tribunal erred in law by basing its refusal of the student visa on the applicant's cessation of enrolment at the time the Tribunal handed down its decision, rather than at the time of the hearing.

Judge Driver found that the applicant was enrolled at the time of the Tribunal hearing, but had ceased to be enrolled by the time the Tribunal made its decision. The Court held that the Tribunal was entitled to consider the applicant's circumstances as they stood at the time of its decision. The Court reasoned that the Tribunal's function was to determine the merits of the application at the time of its decision, and that a change in enrolment status was a relevant factor in that determination. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the Tribunal had not made a jurisdictional error.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.