Chen (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel the student visa of Mr. Chen. The dispute centred on whether Mr. Chen had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr. Chen had breached condition 8202(2) by failing to maintain enrolment in a registered course from 4 August 2015. If a breach was found, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel Mr. Chen's visa, assessing whether there were compelling reasons for him to remain in Australia.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Chen had not maintained enrolment in a registered course since 4 August 2015, a fact he confirmed. Despite receiving a notice of intention to consider cancellation and being granted an extension to provide information, Mr. Chen failed to submit any medical documentation to support his claims of illness preventing study. The Tribunal was not satisfied that Mr. Chen had compelling reasons to remain in Australia, noting he could study in China and his stated reasons for remaining were not sufficiently convincing.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel Mr. Chen's Subclass 573 Higher Education Sector visa.