Hamza (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Hamza against the cancellation of his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 572. The delegate had cancelled the visa on the grounds that Mr Hamza was not enrolled in a registered course of study. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether this ground for cancellation was made out and, if so, whether the visa should be cancelled.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Hamza had breached condition 8202 of schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if Mr Hamza was enrolled in a registered course of study as required by condition 8202(2). If a breach was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to affirm the delegate's decision to cancel the visa under section 116(1) of the Migration Act 1958.

The Tribunal found that Mr Hamza had not complied with condition 8202(2). Mr Hamza admitted in evidence that he was not enrolled in a registered course of study from 27 April 2016 onwards, despite having paid fees for a Bachelor of Accounting course at the Group College in Sydney. He also admitted that he did not respond to the notice of intention to consider cancellation issued by the delegate, explaining that he had not seen the notice in his email inbox at the relevant time. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant had breached the condition. The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.