Singh v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

Singh v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs concerned the appeal of an Indian national against the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to dismiss his application for a student visa. The appellant had arrived in Australia in 2008 under a student visa and had subsequently been granted additional visas. However, his application for a further student visa was refused by the Minister's delegate on 17 November 2016, who found that he was not a genuine temporary entrant for the purposes of study. The appellant applied to the AAT for a review of this decision on 7 December 2016. On 23 March 2018, the AAT invited the appellant to a hearing on 18 April 2018 and requested a certificate of enrolment from the appellant to show he was enrolled in a course of study. Despite this request, the appellant did not provide such a document.

The AAT concluded that the appellant was not enrolled in a full-time registered course of study at the time of the decision, and therefore did not meet the requirement of cl 500.211(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). The AAT affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the appellant the visa. The appellant applied to the Federal Circuit Court for judicial review of the AAT's decision on 30 May 2018. The primary judge dismissed the application and found no jurisdictional error on the part of the AAT. The appellant appealed the primary judge's decision. The court considered two grounds of appeal. The first ground was that the AAT failed to find that the Department of Home Affairs had committed a jurisdictional error in their decision-making process. The second ground was that the AAT did not give proper consideration and weight to evidence presented by the appellant with respect to his enrolment in a registered course of study and claims put forward to support his application. The court found that the AAT was correct in its decision and dismissed the appeal. The appeal is dismissed, and the appellant is ordered to pay the costs of the first respondent.