Tan (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of Ms Siew Kian Tan, who sought review of the decision to cancel her Subclass 030 (Bridging C) visa. The cancellation was based on the ground that Ms Tan had breached a condition of her visa by engaging in work. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the ground for cancellation existed and, if so, whether the discretion to cancel the visa should be exercised.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms Tan had contravened condition 8101 of her visa, which prohibits engaging in work. The Tribunal also had to consider whether, in light of all relevant circumstances, the cancellation of her visa was the appropriate course of action. This involved assessing various factors, including the purpose of her stay in Australia, her compliance with visa conditions, the potential hardship cancellation might cause, and her past and present behaviour.

The Tribunal found that the ground for cancellation was established. Evidence indicated that Ms Tan was the owner of several businesses and had acknowledged using investment funds to operate them, with profits directed to her personal accounts. Furthermore, Australian Border Force officers observed her performing customer service duties at a restaurant while wearing a name badge. Ms Tan admitted to spending varying periods at the business to attend to operational needs and acknowledged that it would be impolite not to assist customers. The Tribunal concluded that these actions constituted engaging in work, thereby breaching her visa condition. In exercising its discretion, the Tribunal noted Ms Tan's extensive history of visa applications and reviews since 2014, including unsuccessful attempts to obtain a Protection visa and a judicial review. Considering these circumstances, the Tribunal determined that there were no compelling reasons to depart from the delegate's decision to cancel the visa.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel Ms Tan's Subclass 030 (Bridging C) visa.