Singh (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel Mr. Singh's Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector). The dispute centred on whether Mr. Singh had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance. The cancellation was based on the ground that Mr. Singh was not enrolled in a registered course.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr. Singh had complied with condition 8202 of his visa. Specifically, it needed to ascertain whether he was enrolled in a registered course, and if not, whether the discretion to cancel his visa should be exercised. This involved considering the circumstances that led to his non-enrolment and his subsequent actions and progress in his studies.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Singh's enrolment with Southern Cross University (SCU) was cancelled due to a dispute over outstanding fees, which he attributed to issues with pre-payment recognition and ongoing disagreements with the provider. While this meant he was not enrolled in a registered course at that time, the Tribunal then considered its discretion to cancel the visa. It noted Mr. Singh's stated purpose of obtaining a tertiary qualification and his subsequent enrolment in courses at Group Colleges Australia. Despite some further cancellations of enrolment at this new institution due to administrative issues and late fee payments, the Tribunal was satisfied, based on the evidence of his academic transcripts and fee payments, that Mr. Singh was making satisfactory progress towards completing his current Bachelor of Accounting degree.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision to cancel Mr. Singh's visa and substituted a decision not to cancel it, finding that in the overall circumstances, cancellation was not warranted.