Marri (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, with Member Wendy Banfield presiding, considered the case of an applicant seeking review of a decision not to grant a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the eligibility criteria for this visa subclass, specifically concerning their enrolment status in a registered course of study.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 500.211(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which requires an applicant to be enrolled in a course of study at the time of the decision. A "course of study" is defined as a "full-time registered course," and a "registered course" is one provided by an institution registered under the *Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000* (Cth) to provide such courses to overseas students.

The Tribunal reasoned that the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) is a reliable business record of the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, used by the Department of Home Affairs as evidence of enrolment for student visa assessments. In the absence of specific evidence to the contrary, the Tribunal accepted PRISMS as a dependable record of enrolments. As the PRISMS record did not indicate that the applicant was enrolled in a course of study at the time of the decision, the Tribunal was not satisfied that clause 500.211(a) was met. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 500 (Student) visa were not satisfied.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The applicant did not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa.