Liao (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a Bridging E (Class WE) visa. The applicant had been found to be an unlawful non-citizen following the cancellation of his Student (subclass TU 500) visa due to non-compliance. The primary dispute concerned whether the applicant had made acceptable arrangements to depart Australia, a key criterion for the grant of the Bridging E visa.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant met the criteria for the Bridging E visa, specifically subclause 050.212(2) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates satisfaction that the applicant is making, or is the subject of, acceptable arrangements to depart Australia. The Tribunal also had to consider the genuineness of the applicant's intentions and arrangements for departure, as informed by relevant case law.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the visa, finding that the applicant had not satisfied the criterion of making acceptable arrangements to depart Australia. While the applicant presented evidence of a purchased airline ticket for departure, the Tribunal found this arrangement lacked genuineness. This conclusion was based on the applicant's statement that the ticket's validity was not important to him, his admission that the money was not important, and the fact that the ticket appeared to have been purchased around the time of his arrest and not by him directly. Furthermore, the applicant's stated intention to depart only after an outstanding court matter was resolved, which was beyond his control, indicated that his departure was contingent on external factors rather than a firm commitment to the purchased ticket. The Tribunal also noted that a purported offer for a further student visa had lapsed without acceptance.