Mahat (Migration) - [2025] ARTA 1184

MAHAT (MIGRATION) [2025] ARTA 1184 (4 JULY 2025)
DECISION AND
REASONS FOR DECISION
Applicants:Mrs Sabita Mahat
Mr Bikash Bhandari
Respondent:  Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Tribunal Number:  2400725

Tribunal:General Member David Thompson
Place:Perth
Date: 4 July 2025
Decision:The Tribunal sets aside the decisions under review and remits the applications for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas for reconsideration in accordance with the order that the first named applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
·cl 500.214 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Statement made on 04 July 2025 at 2:51pm
CATCHWORDS
MIGRATION – Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa – Subclass 500 (Student) – financial requirements – genuine access to funds – course fees, living costs and expenses – money deposits with financial institutions – employment and earnings in Australia – relatively short period of study remaining – decision under review remitted
LEGISLATION
Migration Act 1958 (Cth), s 65
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Schedule 2, cl 500.214(2), (3)
STATEMENT OF REASONS
APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

This is an application for review of decisions made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on 3 January 2024 to refuse to grant the applicants Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas under s 65 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act).
The applicants applied for the visas on 22 November 2023. At the time of application, Class TU contained two subclasses: Subclass 500 (Student) and Subclass 590 (Student Guardian). The primary visa applicant (the applicant) applied for the visa to undertake study in Australia and does not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa.
The delegate in this case refused to grant the visas on the basis that the applicant did not satisfy the requirements of cl 500.214 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (the Regulations) because they were not satisfied that the applicant met the financial requirements for the grant of a student visa. The applicant applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), the predecessor of this Tribunal, for a review of that decision. The Tribunal has heard and determined this matter pursuant to the provisions of Schedule 16 to the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Amendments No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth).
The applicants appeared before the Tribunal on 2 July 2025 to give evidence and present arguments. The Tribunal hearing was conducted with the assistance of an interpreter in the Nepali and English languages.
The applicants were assisted in relation to the review.
For the following reasons, the Tribunal sets aside the decisions under review and remits the visa applications for reconsideration.
CONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE
The criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa are set out in Part 500 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. The primary criteria in cl 500.211 to cl 500.218 must be satisfied by at least one applicant. Other members of the family unit, if any, who are applicants for the visa need only satisfy the secondary criteria. The issue in the present case is whether the applicant meets the requirements of cl 500.214.
Genuine access to funds (cl 500.214)
Clause 500.214 requires the applicant to meet certain financial requirements. If the applicant is required to do so by the Minister, they must give evidence of financial capacity that satisfies the requirements set out in an instrument: cl 500.214(3). All primary applicants must also satisfy the Tribunal that, while they hold the visa, sufficient funds will be available to meet their costs and expenses during their intended stay in Australia, as well as the costs and expenses of any members of their family unit who will be in Australia: cl 500.214(2). The Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the relevant kinds of funds.
In the present case, the Minister has required the applicant to give evidence of financial capacity in accordance with cl 500.214(3).
Has the applicant provided evidence of financial capacity in accordance with the instrument?
The requirements for evidence of financial capacity for cl 500.214(3) are set out in the Migration (LIN/19198: Evidence of financial capacity – Subclass 500 Visa and Subclass 590 Visa) Instrument 2019, as compiled on 1 October 2023 (the Instrument).
In order to determine whether or not the applicant meets the requirements of cl 500.214(3), it is first necessary to calculate a figure representing the required level of financial capacity (financial capacity figure) the applicant must demonstrate. The Instrument provides for a number of ways of doing this, depending on the circumstances of the applicant. As the applicant in this case is a primary applicant for a subclass 500 (Student) visa, s 6 of the Instrument applies. Of the various subsections of that provision, only subsections (2) or (3) could possibly apply in this case. The applicant has not provided any evidence that engages sub-section (3). The only applicable subsection is, therefore, subsection (2).
Subsection (2) requires the decision maker to calculate a number of separate figures, the first in respect of the applicants’ living costs and expenses, the second in respect of the living costs and expenses of any secondary applicant, the third in respect of the applicants’ costs of returning to their home country at the end of their stay, and the fourth in respect of the applicant’s course fees. Those figures are components of the overall financial capacity figure, and are added together to obtain it. Once that figure has been calculated, it is necessary to examine the financial evidence the applicant has produced, in order to determine whether he does in fact have access to funds of at least that level. The Tribunal will deal with those issues in turn.
The applicant is enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing degree, and is due to complete her studies on 15 December 2025. She intends, therefore, to remain in Australia for a period of less than 12 months. It is therefore necessary to calculate her and the second named applicant’s living costs and expenses on a pro rata basis, in the manner set out in s 11 of the Instrument. The Tribunal calculates those figures at the date of these reasons as $11,078 in respect of the applicant and $3,876 in respect of the second named applicant.
The Tribunal allows a sum of $2,000 for the applicants’ travel costs.
As to course fees, the Instrument requires the decision maker first to determine the applicant’s period of study. If an applicant is already studying on the date of his or her visa application, then the period of study will start on the date of that application. If the applicant is not yet studying at that date, his or her period of study will commence on the first day of the applicant’s course. In either case, it will end on the last day of the applicant’s last course. If the period of study is 12 months or longer, the course fee component will be the amount of course fees still outstanding in respect of the first 12 months of the applicant’s period of study.
In this case, the applicant lodged her student visa application on 22 November 2023. On that date, she was enrolled in a Master of Business Administration course, scheduled to run from 16 March 2022 to 16 February 2024. Her period of study must therefore be taken to have started on 22 November 2023. The last day of her last course, a Bachelor of Nursing course, is 15 December 2025, and that date therefore marks the end of her period of study. As the applicant’s period of study is longer than 12 months, the course fees component of her financial capacity figure must be calculated by reference to the first 12 months of her period of study, that is, 22 November 2023 to 22 November 2024. That 12 month period takes in the last 3 months (approximately) of the applicant’s Master of Business Administration course and the first half (again approximately) of her Bachelor of Nursing course. The applicant has provided evidence, orally and in the form of a fee receipts from her course providers, that she has paid all relevant course fees. The course fee component of her financial capacity figure is, therefore, nil.
On the basis of the above, the Tribunal finds that the applicant’s financial capacity figure for the purposes of cl 500.214(3) is $16,954.
The Tribunal now turns to the applicant’s financial evidence. Pursuant to s 10 of the Instrument, only certain defined classes of evidence qualify for consideration for the purposes of cl 500.214(3). The applicant has provided a number of documents falling within the scope of s 10, as evidence of money deposits with financial institutions. She has provided these documents at various times and, unsurprisingly, the balances change from date to date. Only the most up to date of those documents are relevant for current purposes. They are:
a.an ANZ Bank account balance statement dated 20 May 2025 for an account held by the second named applicant, showing a balance of $10,073.17;
b.a Commonwealth Bank of Australia account balance confirmation dated 21 May 2025 for an account held jointly by the applicants, showing a balance of $52,000.67;
c.a Nepal Investment Mega Bank Ltd account statement for an account held by the applicant’s father, showing a balance at 22 May 2025 of NPR750,000, equivalent to $8,349.42 at current exchange rates;
d.an NMB Bank balance certificate dated 22 May 2025 for an account held by the applicant’s mother, showing a balance of NPR501,859.75, equivalent to $5,586.98 at current exchange rates.
The applicant has also provided statutory declarations made by her parents on 28 May 2025, pledging their financial support for the applicants during the applicant’s studies in Australia.
The applicant has thereby demonstrated financial capacity totalling $76,010.24, a sum far greater than the financial capacity figure calculated above and stated in paragraph 17 of these reasons.
On the basis of the above, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(3).
Are there sufficient funds available to meet costs and expenses while the applicant holds the visa?
Sub-clause 500.214(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations requires that while an applicant holds a student visa, he or she has access to sufficient funds to meet his or her costs and expenses during his or her intended stay in Australia. This is a separate requirement to that contained in cl 500.214(3), although the evidence relevant to cl 500.214(3) may also be relevant to cl 500.214(2).
In this case, and in light of the relatively short period of time the applicant intends to remain in Australia, and therefore the relatively short visas she and the second named applicant require, the Tribunal finds that the evidence considered above in respect of cl 500.214(3) is sufficient to satisfy cl 500.214(2). The Tribunal notes, however, that the applicants both provided evidence of their own employment and earnings in Australia prior to hearing, and that the applicant gave plausible oral evidence of her and the second named applicant’s living costs and expenses, all of which tended to satisfy the requirements of cl 500.214(20.
For these reasons, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(2).
Will the applicant have genuine access to the funds?
To meet cl 500.214(1), the Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the funds referred to above.
The Tribunal is entirely satisfied that the applicants have genuine access to their own savings and earnings. The Tribunal is also satisfied, given the statutory declarations mentioned in paragraph 18 above, that the applicant has genuine access to her parent’s funds if necessary.
As the Tribunal is satisfied the applicant will have genuine access to the funds, cl 500.214(1) is met.
Accordingly, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214. That being the case, the grounds upon which the second named applicant’s visa application was refused fall away.
Given the above findings, the appropriate course is to remit the applications for the visas to the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa.
DECISION
The Tribunal sets aside the decisions under review and remits the applications for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas for reconsideration, in accordance with the order that the first named applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
·cl 500.214 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.
Dates of hearing(s): 2 July 2025
Representative for the Applicant: Mr Bista Shraddha (MARN: 2016111)