Tran (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500, made by the applicant, a Vietnamese national. The applicant sought review of a decision by the Department of Home Affairs to refuse to grant the visa. The primary issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was a genuine applicant for entry and stay in Australia as a student.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant satisfied the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 500 visa, specifically clause 500.211 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which mandates that an applicant be enrolled in a registered course of study at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also considered the role of the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) in verifying enrolment status.

The Tribunal reasoned that clause 500.211 required the applicant to be enrolled in a full-time registered course. It noted that PRISMS, a system maintained by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment and used by the Department of Home Affairs, serves as a reliable record of enrolments for the purpose of assessing student visa applications. In this case, the PRISMS records indicated that the applicant was not currently enrolled in a registered course of study. The Tribunal accepted PRISMS as a reliable record in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant had not met the primary criteria under clause 500.211. As a result, the secondary applicant also failed to meet the relevant criteria under clause 500.311. The Tribunal therefore affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants the Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas.