Ekambaram (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, Subclass 500 (Student), made by Mr. Ekambaram. The dispute concerned whether the applicant met the health insurance requirements for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied criterion cl.500.215 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which pertains to Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). This involved assessing the validity and scope of the applicant's OSHC policy in relation to his course of study.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided new evidence, including a Certificate of Enrolment and an OSHC policy with Allianz Global Assistance. While the Certificate of Enrolment indicated a course end date of 21 January 2019, the applicant explained he anticipated completing his studies earlier. Crucially, he had secured OSHC for the full period identified in the Certificate of Enrolment, addressing a previous issue where the insurance was only for a shorter anticipated period. The Tribunal was satisfied, based on this new evidence not available to the original decision-maker, that the applicant met criterion cl.500.215.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for the Subclass 500 (Student) visa to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant had met the health insurance criterion.