Grewal (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the cancellation of the applicant's Subclass 573 Higher Education Sector visa. The dispute arose because the applicant was found not to have complied with a condition of their visa, specifically condition 8516, which requires a visa holder to continue to satisfy the criteria for the grant of their visa.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the ground for cancellation under section 116(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) was made out, and if so, whether the discretion to cancel the visa should be exercised. The core legal issue was whether the applicant had failed to meet the criteria for a Subclass 573 visa, which necessitates enrolment in a specified higher education course, and whether their subsequent actions and stated intentions warranted visa cancellation.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had ceased to meet the criteria for the visa when their enrolment in a Bachelor of Information Technology was cancelled and they were not enrolled in an alternative specified higher education course. The applicant admitted to having no intention of studying a higher education course and instead wished to pursue vocational education and training courses. The Tribunal found that this lack of intention to study a higher education course, coupled with the breach of condition 8516, weighed in favour of cancellation.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.