Karmacharya v Minister for Immigration

In *Karmacharya v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) that affirmed the refusal of his student visa application. The applicant contended that the Tribunal's decision was affected by jurisdictional error due to its failure to consider a relevant factor.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal had committed jurisdictional error by failing to take into account a relevant consideration when assessing the applicant's eligibility for a student visa. This involved an examination of the Tribunal's obligations under administrative law and the specific requirements of the *Migration Regulations 2004* (the Regulations).

Justice Cameron reasoned that a visa criterion does not apply unless the Regulations expressly state that it does. The Court found that the Tribunal had failed to consider the applicant's submission regarding the applicability of a particular criterion, which was a relevant consideration. This failure amounted to jurisdictional error, as the Tribunal had not properly exercised its statutory power. The Court therefore set aside the Tribunal's decision and remitted the matter to the Tribunal for redetermination according to law.