Partiksha (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the English language proficiency requirements stipulated by the relevant regulations and associated instrument, IMMI 18/015.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant had satisfied clause 500.213 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates a specific level of English language proficiency. This involved assessing the applicant's performance on an English language test against the minimum score requirements outlined in IMMI 18/015, particularly in relation to any accompanying English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) package.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had failed to meet the English language proficiency criteria. While the applicant provided a PTE test score of 29, the relevant instrument, IMMI 18/015, specified a minimum score of 30 when packaged with a suitable ELICOS course of at least 20 weeks. The Tribunal noted that the applicant's previously attended ELICOS course was only 12 weeks long and completed in 2020, thus not meeting the packaging requirement. Crucially, the Tribunal found that the applicant's test score of 29 itself was insufficient, irrespective of the course packaging.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy clause 500.213 and, therefore, did not meet the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The decision under review, which refused the visa, was affirmed.