Charakanam (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant whose Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa was cancelled. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course of study.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant had complied with condition 8202(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition mandates that the holder of a student visa must be enrolled in a registered course. If a breach was found, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa under section 116(1) of the Migration Act 1958.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not been enrolled in a registered course from 26 November 2015 until the cancellation of his visa on 29 December 2016, thereby breaching condition 8202(2). While acknowledging the applicant's stated difficulties in adjusting to life in Australia and the death of his sister, the Tribunal was not sufficiently satisfied that these circumstances explained the prolonged period of non-study or the applicant's failure to take any action during that time. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had only studied for a few months, did not complete any subjects, and remained in Australia unenrolled for over a year. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.