MASVAURE (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the cancellation of a Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector) student visa held by the applicant. The dispute arose because the applicant was not enrolled in a registered course, a condition of their visa, and had failed to notify the Department of Immigration and Border Protection of this change.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the grounds for visa cancellation under section 116(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) were met, and if so, whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess if the applicant had breached visa condition 8202(2)(a), which mandates enrolment in a registered course, and consider the applicant's explanations for this breach, including financial hardship and attempts to re-enrol.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had breached condition 8202(2)(a) as they had not been enrolled in a registered course since 5 May 2014, when their Bachelor of Engineering course was cancelled due to non-payment of fees. While the applicant provided evidence of attempts to re-enrol and cited financial difficulties, the Tribunal noted that the documentary evidence of these attempts, particularly the application to resume studies on 26 July 2016, was not provided prior to the Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC) being issued. The email conditionally approving their re-enrolment was dated after the NOICC. Considering all circumstances, including the significant period of non-enrolment and the timing of the re-enrolment application, the Tribunal concluded that the visa should be cancelled.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant’s Class TU visa.