Mego Inga (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mego Inga, who sought review of the decision to cancel his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The dispute centred on whether Mr. Inga had breached a condition of his visa, leading to its cancellation by the Department.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr. Inga had complied with Condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled full-time in a registered course, maintain enrolment in a course that leads to a qualification at the same or higher level than the original course, and achieve satisfactory course progress and attendance. The Tribunal also had to consider whether, even if a breach occurred, the discretion to cancel the visa should have been exercised.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Inga had breached Condition 8202(2)(a) as he was not enrolled in a full-time registered course at the time of the cancellation decision. While Mr. Inga provided evidence of a new enrolment in February 2022, this followed a significant gap of over 23 months during which he was not studying. The Tribunal considered Mr. Inga's reasons for remaining in Australia, including his desire to complete a management course and support his daughter's education, but found these did not outweigh the prolonged period of non-compliance and the fact that he had been in Australia for over five years with only ELICOS courses successfully completed. The Tribunal concluded that Mr. Inga's enrolment history suggested his primary purpose for remaining in Australia may no longer align with the objectives of a student visa.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel Mr. Inga's visa.