Baluch (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mr Baluch, who sought review of the decision to cancel his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) Higher Education Sector (subclass 573) visa. The dispute centred on whether Mr Baluch had breached a condition of his visa, leading to its cancellation under s 116(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Baluch had complied with condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course of study and to achieve satisfactory course progress and attendance. The Tribunal also had to consider whether, having found a breach, it should exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The Tribunal found that Mr Baluch had not been enrolled in a registered course of study since 30 July 2015, thereby breaching condition 8202(2)(a). While Mr Baluch provided personal circumstances, including culture shock, difficulty adapting, and the death of his uncle, the Tribunal was not satisfied that these prevented him from maintaining his enrolment. The Tribunal noted that Mr Baluch had previously held a student visa in 2006, diminishing the impact of culture shock as a sole reason for non-enrolment. Furthermore, there was no corroborating evidence for the relationship to the deceased, and no evidence that Mr Baluch had contacted the Department about his circumstances or sought professional help. The Tribunal considered the breach significant, given the purpose of a student visa, and affirmed the decision to cancel the visa.