Parikh (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a Subclass 500 (Student) visa to the applicant. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicant had provided sufficient evidence of financial capacity as required by the Migration Regulations 1994.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements for demonstrating financial capacity under clause 500.214(3) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations, as elaborated by the legislative instrument LIN 19/198. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant had provided adequate evidence of genuine access to sufficient funds to cover course fees, living expenses, and travel costs for their intended stay in Australia, and whether they had provided a current Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) or equivalent document.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant was required to provide current information to satisfy the genuine access to funds (GAF) requirement. The Tribunal had provided the applicant with clear written notice, inviting them to attend a hearing and requesting specific documents, including a current COE or equivalent, and evidence of financial capacity. The Tribunal found that the applicant had been adequately notified of the need to provide a current COE. Given the applicant's failure to provide a current COE or other documents demonstrating current enrolment, the Tribunal concluded that the criteria for the grant of the visa were not met.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa.