Mahajan (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant whose Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector) student visa was cancelled. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had breached a condition of their visa, leading to the cancellation decision by the Department. The applicant sought review of this cancellation decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had complied with condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant was enrolled in a registered course, as required by subclause 8202(2), and if not, whether the discretion to cancel the visa should be exercised. The Tribunal also considered various factors in exercising this discretion, including the purpose of the applicant's travel, the extent of compliance with visa conditions, the degree of hardship that might be caused by cancellation, and the circumstances in which the ground for cancellation arose.

The Tribunal found, based on information from the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) and the applicant's own admissions, that the applicant had not been enrolled in a registered course since April 2016. This constituted a breach of condition 8202(2). In considering the discretion to cancel the visa, the Tribunal noted that while the applicant had paid fees and might experience some hardship, these factors did not outweigh the significant breach of a core visa condition. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not have a compelling need to remain in Australia and that the difficulties arising from cancellation were intended consequences of the legislation.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's Class TU visa.