Barszczewski (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking review of a decision not to grant them a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The primary dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for this visa, specifically relating to their enrolment status.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant satisfied clause 500.211 of the Regulations, which mandates that an applicant must be enrolled in a full-time registered course of study at the time of the decision. The definition of a "registered course" refers to a course provided by an institution registered under the *Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000* (Cth) to provide such courses to overseas students.

The Tribunal relied on information from the PRISMS (Provider Registration and International Student Management System) website, which is a system used by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment and the Department of Home Affairs to record and verify overseas student enrolments. The Tribunal accepted PRISMS as a reliable record of enrolments in the absence of contrary evidence. As the applicant did not respond to an invitation to provide information and there was no evidence to contradict the PRISMS record, the Tribunal found that the applicant was not enrolled in a course of study at the time of the decision. Consequently, clause 500.211 was not met.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 500 (Student) visa and affirmed the original decision to refuse the visa. The applicant did not claim to meet the criteria for an alternative visa, such as the Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa.