Tulachan (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant whose Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500, was cancelled. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had breached a condition of their visa, leading to the cancellation decision by the delegate. The applicant sought to have this cancellation decision reviewed by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had breached condition 8202 of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This condition requires a student visa holder to be enrolled in a registered course and to achieve satisfactory course progress and attendance. If a breach of this condition was established, the Tribunal then had to consider whether to exercise its discretion to cancel the visa.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not been enrolled in a registered course since 21 August 2017, thereby breaching condition 8202(2)(a) of their visa. The applicant had a history of changing courses, with multiple enrolments being cancelled for non-commencement, cessation of studies, or unsatisfactory attendance. The only course successfully completed was a short English language course. Despite the applicant's explanations of financial hardship, family bereavement, and health issues, and their stated desire to continue studying, the Tribunal concluded that the grounds for cancelling the visa outweighed the grounds for not cancelling it.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the applicant's visa.