KWON (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the applications of Gyehwan Kwon and Ji Hyun Hwang for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas, subclass 500. The primary dispute concerned whether the applicants met the criteria for the visa, specifically the requirement to be enrolled in a registered course of study. The Tribunal was tasked with determining if the applicants had satisfied the relevant legislative criteria for the grant of the visa.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant, Gyehwan Kwon, was enrolled in a registered course of study as required by clause 500.211 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, and whether he was a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student. Additionally, the Tribunal had to consider whether the dependant applicant, Ji Hyun Hwang, satisfied clause 500.311, which requires her to be a member of the family unit of a person who satisfies, or has satisfied, the primary criteria for a student visa. The Tribunal also had regard to Direction No. 69, which provides guidance on assessing the genuine temporary entrant criterion.

The Tribunal found that there was no information before it to satisfy the Tribunal that Gyehwan Kwon was enrolled in a course of study as required by clause 500.211. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the primary criteria for the subclass 500 visa were met. As Gyehwan Kwon, the primary applicant, did not meet the primary criteria, it followed that Ji Hyun Hwang, the dependant applicant, could not satisfy clause 500.311.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decisions not to grant the applicants Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas.