Minti Kumari (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to cancel the applicant's Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa. The applicant had been nominated by JJC Partnership Pty Ltd, which was subsequently deregistered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and had its Australian Business Number cancelled. The Department of Home Affairs cancelled the applicant's visa on the ground that her sponsor had its sponsorship cancelled under s 140M of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The applicant sought review of this decision before the Tribunal.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the ground for cancellation under s 116(1)(g) of the Act, read with regulation 2.43(1)(l)(iv), was made out, and if so, whether the Tribunal should exercise its discretion to cancel the visa. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant's sponsor had been cancelled or barred under s 140M of the Act, and then consider the relevant circumstances in deciding whether to affirm the cancellation.

The Tribunal reasoned that the ground for cancellation was established because the evidence, including ASIC records and ABN Lookup searches, demonstrated that the applicant's nominator, JJC Partnership Pty Ltd, was deregistered and its ABN cancelled. This satisfied the requirement that the sponsor had been cancelled or barred under s 140M. As the cancellation was not mandatory under s 116(3), the Tribunal then considered its discretion. The applicant had not provided any submissions or evidence to assist the Tribunal in exercising this discretion, nor had she raised any matters of hardship or explained her involvement with her sponsors.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 457 visa. The Tribunal noted that it had no jurisdiction to make decisions regarding the visas of other applicants whose visas were automatically cancelled as a consequence of the first applicant's visa cancellation.