Singh (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mr Singh, an applicant whose Subclass 500 (Student) visa was cancelled. The dispute centred on whether Mr Singh had breached condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates that a student visa holder must be enrolled in a full-time registered course and maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance. If a breach of this condition occurred, the visa could be cancelled under section 116(1) of the Migration Act 1958.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Mr Singh had complied with condition 8202. This condition requires the visa holder to be enrolled in a full-time registered course, maintain enrolment in a course leading to a qualification at the same or higher level than the original course, and not be certified by their education provider as having unsatisfactory course progress or attendance. The Tribunal also had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa, even if a ground for cancellation existed.

The Tribunal found that Mr Singh had breached condition 8202(2)(a) because the Provider Registration and International Students Management System (PRISMS) indicated he was not enrolled in a registered course from 3 September 2019 until 18 January 2022. While Mr Singh provided reasons for this gap, including family illness and a lack of support from his initial education provider, the Tribunal concluded that these circumstances did not negate the breach. After considering Mr Singh's response to the Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation and weighing the circumstances, the Tribunal exercised its discretion to affirm the cancellation of his visa.