Mullapudi (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal concerning the cancellation of a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 573 Higher Education Sector. The applicant, Mr Mullapudi, had his visa cancelled by a delegate of the Minister on the grounds that he had breached a condition of his visa. The applicant sought review of this decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had breached condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations, which requires holders of student visas to remain enrolled in a registered course. If a breach was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa under section 116 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The Tribunal found that the applicant had indeed breached condition 8202, as his enrolment in a Master of Professional Accounting at Charles Sturt University was cancelled on 31 January 2017 due to unsatisfactory course progress. He was not enrolled in any registered course until 18 September 2017, after receiving a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation. The Tribunal accepted this period of non-enrolment, which the applicant admitted. Despite the applicant's submission that a physical attack in February 2017 had impacted his ability to study, the Tribunal noted that his course enrolment had already been cancelled prior to this incident. Having found a breach of the visa condition, the Tribunal considered its discretion to cancel the visa, taking into account all information provided by the applicant and relevant government policy guidelines. The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the visa.