Rezaei (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant against the cancellation of his Higher Education Sector (Class TU) visa, Subclass 573 (Student) (Temporary). The applicant had been enrolled in a Master of Engineering course at Western Sydney University but his enrolment was cancelled by the university.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant had complied with the conditions of his visa, specifically condition 8202(2)(a) which requires a visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course. The court also considered whether the circumstances leading to the cancellation of the applicant's enrolment constituted exceptional circumstances that would warrant a different outcome.

The court found that the applicant had not been enrolled in a registered course since 2 May 2017, thereby breaching condition 8202(2)(a) of his visa. The court noted that while the applicant had sought a deferment of his enrolment to attend a court matter in Iran, this request was ultimately declined. Furthermore, subsequent attempts to secure a new enrolment were unsuccessful due to the applicant's prior study in Iran not being recognised as equivalent to an Australian Bachelor degree, making him ineligible for the Master's program. The court concluded that these circumstances were not exceptional and affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa.