Liyana Patabandige (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Department of Home Affairs to refuse student visas (subclass 500) to Mr Sathira Asiri Abeydeera Liyana Patabandige and Mrs Dileni Niyana Kumarai Yapa Mudiansalagi, citizens of Sri Lanka. The applicants had applied for these visas on 22 September 2017. The primary applicant, Mr Liyana Patabandige, was required to satisfy the primary criteria for the visa, including the genuine temporary entrant requirement, while the secondary applicant, Mrs Yapa Mudiansalagi, was required to meet the secondary criteria.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the primary applicant, Mr Liyana Patabandige, met the genuine temporary entrant criterion as stipulated in clause 500.212 of Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations. This criterion requires the applicant to satisfy the decision-maker that they are a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student. The refusal of the primary applicant's visa would automatically lead to the refusal of the secondary applicant's visa, as her eligibility was contingent on his.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that the primary applicant had not met the genuine temporary entrant criterion. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had been in Australia for over 12 years and had a history of using student visas to maintain ongoing residence. These factors, combined with credibility concerns, led the Tribunal to conclude that the applicant's intention was not genuinely to study in Australia on a temporary basis. The primary applicant participated in the hearing via telephone, while the secondary applicant did not.