RATHINAM v Minister for Immigration

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia heard an application by the first applicant, Rathinam, and the second applicant, against the Minister for Immigration. The dispute concerned the refusal of a Student temporary (class TU) visa. The applicants sought judicial review of the decision, raising several grounds of appeal.

The court was required to determine whether the Administrative Appeals Tribunal had erred in law by refusing the visa. Specifically, the court considered whether the applicants had satisfied the criteria for the visa, including criterion 3005, which required the applicant to hold a substantive visa at the time of application. The court also examined whether the tribunal had adequately considered the applicants' claims regarding their inability to attend a hearing in person due to illness and their subsequent requests for a different hearing format.

His Honour Judge Wilson found that the applicants had not satisfied criterion 3005 as they did not hold a substantive visa on the day they applied for the visa. Furthermore, the court determined that the first applicant had not made a proper written request for a further hearing before the tribunal, nor had they sought a postponement of the original hearing despite claiming to be too sick to attend. The grounds of appeal were found to be devoid of merit.

Consequently, the application for judicial review was summarily dismissed.