Singh (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant, Mr. Singh, against the cancellation of his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) Subclass 573 (Higher Education Sector) visa. The visa was cancelled by a delegate of the Minister on the grounds that Mr. Singh had breached a condition of his visa by failing to remain enrolled in a registered course. The primary issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether this ground for cancellation was made out and, if so, whether the visa should be cancelled.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr. Singh had complied with condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations, which mandates that students remain enrolled in registered courses. If a breach of this condition was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa under section 116 of the Migration Act. The applicant presented evidence and arguments, with the assistance of an interpreter, regarding his circumstances and reasons for not maintaining enrolment.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Singh had indeed breached condition 8202, as he admitted to not being enrolled in a registered course since his Bachelor of Business enrolment was cancelled on 31 March 2017. The Tribunal noted that Mr. Singh had failed previous courses due to non-attendance and missed exams, and had not enrolled in any course since March 2017, despite no restrictions on his bridging visa. While the applicant raised issues of stress, depression, and family disappointment, the Tribunal found his explanations inconsistent and insufficient to warrant the exercise of discretion to set aside the cancellation. The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the visa.