Silva E Silva (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision not to grant the applicant a Subclass 500 (Student) visa. The applicant had not responded to an invitation issued under s 359(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and was therefore not entitled to appear before the Tribunal. The Tribunal, constituted by Roger Maguire, was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was enrolled in a full-time registered course of study at the time of the decision, as required by cl.500.211(a) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). The definition of a "registered course" under r.1.03 of the Regulations was also relevant.

The Tribunal found that there was no evidence before it demonstrating that the applicant was currently enrolled in a course of study. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the criterion in cl.500.211 was met. As this was a primary criterion for the grant of a Subclass 500 visa, and the applicant did not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not satisfy the requirements for the visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the visa.