Khatri (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mr. Khatri, who sought review of the decision to cancel his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 573 Higher Education Sector. The dispute centred on whether Mr. Khatri had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Mr. Khatri had breached condition 8202 of his visa. If a breach was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to affirm the cancellation of his visa, having regard to the circumstances presented.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Khatri had breached condition 8202(2) as he was not enrolled in a registered course of study between 24 August 2015 and 10 October 2016. While Mr. Khatri presented reasons for this non-compliance, including the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, mental health issues, and family financial difficulties, the Tribunal considered the period of non-enrolment to be substantial. Furthermore, subsequent enrolment in a Diploma of Business Administration was found not to meet the requirements of his specific visa subclass. The Tribunal concluded that these mitigating factors did not sufficiently warrant the exercise of discretion to set aside the cancellation.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel Mr. Khatri’s visa.