Doal (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of an applicant whose Student (Temporary) (class TU) visa, Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector), was cancelled. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had breached a condition of their visa, leading to the cancellation decision by the Department. The applicant sought a review of this cancellation decision by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had breached condition 8516 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a student visa holder to maintain enrolment in a course of study. If a breach was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to affirm the delegate's decision to cancel the visa, exercising its discretion in doing so.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had failed to maintain enrolment in a principal course of study at the higher education level, as evidenced by records from the relevant system. While acknowledging the applicant's attempts to enrol with other education providers and in different courses, the Tribunal noted that these did not constitute a principal course of study at the higher education level as required by the visa conditions. Furthermore, the applicant had not obtained a new Certificate of Enrolment at the higher education level. The Tribunal considered the purpose of a student visa to be for study in Australia and concluded that the applicant had not been fulfilling this purpose.

After considering all the circumstances, including the applicant's submissions and the significance of the breach, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 573 Higher Education Sector visa.