Ramakrishnan (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision not to grant the applicant a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, specifically a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the enrolment requirement stipulated in clause 500.211(a) of the Regulations, which mandates that an applicant be enrolled in a course of study at the time of the decision. A "course of study" is defined as a "full-time registered course," and a "registered course" refers to one provided by an institution registered to offer such courses to overseas students under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000.

The Tribunal noted that while the delegate had been satisfied of the applicant's enrolment as at 3 March 2017, that particular course of study concluded on 5 January 2019. Crucially, there was no response to an invitation issued on 11 January 2019 requesting details of the applicant's current enrolment. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant was enrolled in a course of study at the time of its decision, meaning clause 500.211(a) was not met. As the applicant did not claim to meet any alternative criteria for a Subclass 500 visa or the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.