Nguyen (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant against the cancellation of his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa. The applicant, a 33-year-old man from Vietnam, had been granted the visa to study a Bachelor of Business with the aim of advancing his career in finance. He had previously worked in banking and finance in Vietnam. The visa was cancelled on the grounds that the applicant was not enrolled in a full-time registered course, thereby failing to comply with condition 8202(2)(a) of his visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had complied with the conditions of his visa, specifically the requirement to be enrolled in a full-time registered course. If non-compliance was established, the Tribunal was then required to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa, taking into account various factors including the purpose of the applicant's stay, the extent of his non-compliance, and any hardship that might be caused by cancellation.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not been enrolled in a full-time registered course for a significant period of 11 months, constituting a substantial breach of his visa conditions. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had undertaken a series of courses at lower qualification levels, which were vocational in nature and inconsistent with his stated objective of completing a Bachelor of Business to advance his finance career. Furthermore, the applicant had not achieved academic success in his chosen Bachelor course, finding it too difficult, and had moved to Western Australia without securing new enrolment or employment. Considering these factors, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had no compelling reason to remain in Australia as he was not achieving his academic or career objectives. The Tribunal also found that the hardship claimed by the applicant carried little weight, given the deviation from his stated purpose for coming to Australia.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.