SINGH (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant whose Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 572, was cancelled. The applicant contended that the cancellation was unwarranted, citing reasons of homesickness and loneliness, and that he was unaware of the cancellation. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant had breached a condition of his visa and, if so, whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The primary legal issue was whether the applicant had complied with condition 8202 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and to maintain satisfactory course progress and attendance. The Tribunal considered evidence that the applicant had not been enrolled in a registered course since 1 December 2014, a fact confirmed by PRISM records. The applicant admitted to missing classes due to homesickness and loneliness, which led to his enrolment being cancelled.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had breached condition 8202(2) by failing to be enrolled in a registered course. In considering the exercise of discretion to cancel the visa, the Tribunal acknowledged the hardship the cancellation would cause but found the breach to be significant. The Tribunal was not persuaded by the applicant's reasons for the breach, noting that he had been in Australia for a considerable period prior to the breach and had previously managed to remain enrolled. The Tribunal concluded that the grounds for cancelling the visa outweighed the grounds for not cancelling it. The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant’s visa.