Mo v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

Zhimin Mo, a Chinese citizen, appealed against the decision of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia which upheld the cancellation of her student visa. The visa was cancelled under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) after a notice was issued to Ms Mo under s 20 of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) indicating she had breached a condition of her student visa. Ms Mo argued that the notice was ineffective and that her visa was not validly cancelled. The primary legal issue before the court was whether Regulation 3.03A of the Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2001 (Cth) was effective to provide content to s 20 of the ESOS Act and whether the notice issued to Ms Mo was ineffective due to breaches of the National Code 2007 by the education provider. The court found that Regulation 3.03A did not supplement the provisions of s 20 of the ESOS Act, making the notice sent to Ms Mo legally ineffective. As a result, her visa was not automatically cancelled when she failed to take the steps referred to in s 137J of the Migration Act. The appeal was allowed, and the parties were directed to confer about the terms of draft orders to give effect to the court's decision.