Korkmaz (Migration) - [2025] ARTA 1554

KORKMAZ (MIGRATION) [2025] ARTA 1554 (30 JUNE 2025)
DECISION AND
REASONS FOR DECISION
Applicant:Ms Betul Nur Korkmaz
Respondent:  Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Tribunal Number:  2401404
Tribunal:General Member D Thompson
Place:Perth
Date:  30 June 2025
Corrigendum
Date of corrigendum:  25 August 2025

Pursuant to s 114 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth), the following alterations are made to the statement of reasons for the decision:
The statement of reasons for the decision is altered to read:
The clause reference in paragraph 18 is altered to read: cl 500.313(3).·
The clause reference in paragraph 20 is altered to read: cl 500.313(2).·
The clause reference in paragraphs 21 and 23 are altered to read: cl 500.313(1).·
The clause reference in paragraph 24 is altered to read: cl 500.313.·

Applicant:Ms Betul Nur Korkmaz
Respondent: Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Tribunal Number: 2401404

Tribunal:General Member David Thompson
Place:Perth
Date: 30 June 2025
Decision:The Tribunal sets aside the decision under review and remits the application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa for reconsideration in accordance with the order that the applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
·cl 500.313 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Statement made on 30 June 2025 at 4:08pm
CATCHWORDS
MIGRATION – Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa – Subclass 500 (Student) – financial requirements – evidence of genuine access to funds – secondary applicant’s living and travel expenses – primary applicant due to finish course soon and pro rata calculation – letters and statement from banks in Australia and home country – decision under review remitted
LEGISLATION
Migration Act 1958 (Cth), s 65
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Schedule 2, cl 500.313(2), (3)
STATEMENT OF REASONS
APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

This is an application for review of a decision made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on 11 January 2024 to refuse to grant the applicant a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa under s 65 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act).
The applicant applied for the visa on 24 October 2023. At the time of application, Class TU contained two subclasses: Subclass 500 (Student) and Subclass 590 (Student Guardian). The applicant applied for the visa to undertake study in Australia and does not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa.
The delegate in this case refused to grant the visa on the basis that the applicant did not satisfy the requirements of cl 500.313 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (the Regulations) because she was not satisfied that the applicant met the financial requirements for the grant of a student visa. The applicant applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), the predecessor of this Tribunal, for a review of that decision. The Tribunal has heard and determined this matter pursuant to the provisions of Schedule 16 to the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Amendments No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth).
The applicant appeared before the Tribunal on 30 June 2025 to give evidence and present arguments. The Tribunal also received oral evidence from Mr Furkan Tekkartal. The Tribunal hearing was conducted with the assistance of an interpreter in the Turkish and English languages.
For the following reasons, the Tribunal sets aside the decision under review and remits the visa application for reconsideration.
CONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE
The criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa are set out in Part 500 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. The primary criteria in cl 500.211 to cl 500.218 must be satisfied by at least one applicant. Other members of the family unit, if any, who are applicants for the visa need only satisfy the secondary criteria. The issue in the present case is whether the applicant, who is not studying herself but is in Australia to accompany her husband, meets the requirements of cl 500.313 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.
Genuine access to funds (cl 500.313)
Clause 500.313 requires the applicant to meet certain financial requirements. If the applicant is required to do so by the Minister, they must give evidence of financial capacity that satisfies the requirements set out in an instrument: cl 500.313(3). All applicants must also satisfy the Tribunal that, while they hold the visa, sufficient funds will be available to meet their costs and expenses during their intended stay in Australia, as well as the costs and expenses of any members of their family unit who will be in Australia: cl 500.313(2). The Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the relevant kinds of funds.
In the present case, the Minister has required the applicant to give evidence of financial capacity in accordance with cl 500.313(3).
Has the applicant provided evidence of financial capacity in accordance with the instrument?
The requirements for evidence of financial capacity for cl 500.313(3) are set out in the Migration (LIN 19/198: Evidence of financial capacity - Subclass 500 and Subclass 590 Visa) Instrument 2019 (the Instrument).
The relevant requirements are set out in s 7 of the Instrument. Of the various subsections of s 7, only sub-s (2) is engaged by the evidence before the Tribunal. That subsection requires that the applicant’s evidence of financial capacity take the form provided in s 10 of the Instrument, that it demonstrate that sufficient funds are available to mee the costs and expenses of the primary student visa holder set out in subparagraphs 6(2)(b)(i) to (iii) of Part 2 of the Instrument, and that it demonstrate that sufficient funds are available to mee the costs and expenses of the applicant (and each other secondary applicant making a combined application with the primary student visa holder) specified in paragraphs 6(2)(c)(i) to (iv) of Part 2 of the Instrument. In each case, these provisions require the calculation of a figure comprised of separate amounts for living costs and expenses and travel expenses. In the case of the primary student visa holder, the figure contains an additional component: course fees.
The manner in which living costs and expenses are calculated depends on the length of time for which the applicant and the primary student visa holder intend to remain in Australia on a student visa. As the primary student visa holder must be enrolled in a registered course of study to qualify to hold a student visa at all, the length of stay is tied to the length of the primary student visa holder’s course. If the applicant intends to remain in Australia for 12 months or more, a living costs and expenses figure of $24,505 applies for the primary student visa holder, and a figure of $8,574 for each secondary applicant. If the intended length of stay is less than 12 months, the figure is calculated on the pro rata basis set out in s 11 of the Instrument, using the 12 month living expenses figures as a starting point.
In this case, the primary student visa holder is studying for a Master of Information Technology degree. His course is due to finish on 11 July 2025, 12 days from the date of this decision. The pro rata living costs and expenses figure for the primary student visa holder is $806, and figure for the applicant herself is $282.
As regards travel expenses, the Tribunal allows a figure of $1,000 each for the applicant and the primary student visa holder.
The applicant has provided evidence, in the form of fee receipts for all of the primary student visa holder’s enrolments during his time in Australia, that satisfies the Tribunal that he has paid all of his course fees for all of his courses. The course fees component of the applicant’s financial capacity figure is therefore nil.
On the basis of paragraphs 11 to 14 above, the Tribunal finds that the applicant’s financial capacity figure for the purposes of s 7(2) of the Instrument comes to $3,088.
The Tribunal now turns to the applicant’s evidence of financial capacity. As noted above, that evidence must fall within one of the 4 limbs of s 10 of the Instrument. The applicant relies on the following documentary evidence in that regard:
a.an account balance letter issued by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) dated 29 May 2025, showing the applicant’s own account balance as $12,317.26;
b.an account balance letter issued by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) dated 29 May 2025, showing Mr Tekkartal’s (the primary student visa holder’s) own account balance as $16,190.09;
c.an account statement issued by Ziraat Bankası in respect of an account held by Mr Tekkartal, showing a Turkish lira balance as at 27 May 2025 equivalent to $74,702.10 at exchange rates prevailing at the date of these reasons.
The Tribunal is satisfied that each of these documents fall within the first limb of s 10 of the Instrument, as evidence of money deposit with a financial institution. In total, they provide evidence of financial capacity of $103,209.45, an amount far greater than the financial capacity figure calculated in paragraphs 11 to 15 above.
On the basis of the above, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(3).
Are there sufficient funds available to meet costs and expenses while the applicant holds the visa?
Clause 500.313(2) of Schedule 2 requires the Tribunal to be satisfied that sufficient funds will be available while the applicant holds the visa to meet the costs and expenses of the applicant’s stay in Australia, and the costs and expenses of each member of the applicant’s family unit who will be in Australia. This is a separate requirement to that provided in cl 500.313(3). However, the evidence relevant to cl 500.313(3) may also be relevant for the purposes of cl 500.313(2).
Given the length of the applicant’s proposed stay in Australia, and given the level of financial capacity the applicant has demonstrated for the purposes of cl 500.313(3), the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(2).
Will the applicant have genuine access to the funds?
To meet cl 500.214(1), the Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the funds referred to above.
In this case, the applicant is relying on her and her husband’s own funds, held in bank accounts maintained in their own names. In those circumstances, the Tribunal is satisfied that they have genuine access to the funds upon which they rely.
As the Tribunal is satisfied the applicant will have genuine access to the funds, cl 500.214(1) is met.
Accordingly, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214.
Given the above findings, the appropriate course is to remit the application for the visa to the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa.
DECISION
The Tribunal sets aside the decision under review and remits the application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa for reconsideration, in accordance with the order that the applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
·cl 500.313 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.
Dates of hearing(s): 30 June 2025