Manbir Singh (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by Manbir Singh for review of the decision to cancel his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector). The applicant's visa was cancelled on the basis that he had breached condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically by failing to maintain enrolment in a registered course of study. The applicant had been granted the visa on 4 November 2014, and the Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation was issued on 7 November 2016, indicating he had not been enrolled in a registered course since 24 September 2015.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course, achieve satisfactory course progress, and maintain satisfactory course attendance. If a breach is established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not complied with condition 8202(2)(a) as he was not enrolled in a registered course for a period of approximately 13 months. While the applicant provided evidence of subsequent enrolments and an academic transcript showing he had failed five out of eleven subjects, including two "absent fails," the Tribunal gave this little weight. The Tribunal reasoned that the significant period of non-enrolment, coupled with the poor academic record and the lack of a reasonable excuse for the absent fails, indicated that the applicant's intention to remain in Australia was not genuinely for the purpose of study.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa, concluding that the circumstances of the case warranted cancellation.