Lopez Gopia (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, with Member Wendy Banfield presiding, considered the case of Mr. Lopez Gopia concerning his application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, Subclass 500. The central dispute revolved around whether Mr. Gopia met the eligibility requirements for this visa, specifically the criterion relating to his enrolment in an approved course of study.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr. Gopia satisfied clause 500.211 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates that an applicant for a Subclass 500 visa must be enrolled in a full-time registered course of study at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also considered the definitions of "course of study" and "registered course" as provided in the Regulations and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Gopia had not provided evidence of his enrolment in an approved course of study. He informed the Tribunal that he had finished studying in Australia and intended to return to Peru once travel restrictions permitted, and therefore was not currently enrolled and did not plan to study further. Based on this, the Tribunal concluded that Mr. Gopia did not meet the requirement of clause 500.211. As this primary criterion was not satisfied, and Mr. Gopia did not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Subclass 500 visa.