Mirdan v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Mirdan, sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (Tribunal) to cancel her student visa under section 116(1)(b) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The central dispute concerned whether the Tribunal had erred in law by considering the period during which Mirdan held a bridging visa with a "no study" condition when assessing whether she was a genuine student.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Court was whether it was reasonably open to the Tribunal to conclude that Mirdan was not a genuine student, specifically by taking into account the period she was subject to the "no study" condition on her bridging visa. This also involved determining whether the Tribunal reasonably considered Mirdan's prospects of having that condition waived by the Minister, which would have been relevant to assessing her genuine student status had she otherwise met the criteria. The Court was asked to determine if these considerations constituted jurisdictional error.

Justice Manousaridis reasoned that the Tribunal was entitled to consider the entire period of Mirdan's presence in Australia, including the time she held a bridging visa with a "no study" condition, when assessing her genuine student status. The Court held that the Tribunal's assessment did not involve an error of law by considering this period. Furthermore, the Tribunal's consideration of Mirdan's prospects of obtaining a waiver of the "no study" condition was also found to be within its reasonable purview. The Court concluded that the Tribunal's decision was not affected by jurisdictional error.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.