WANG (Migration)

This matter concerned the review of a decision to cancel the Subclass 500 (Student) visa held by the applicant, Mr. Wang. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was tasked with determining whether the cancellation was justified.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had failed to comply with sections 101 and 103 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), as particularised in the notice issued under section 107 of the Act, and if so, whether the visa should be cancelled. Section 101 requires that visa applications be completed with all questions answered and no incorrect answers provided, while section 103 prohibits the provision of bogus documents.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided a certificate of a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems from Middlesex University London, dated 23 May 2017, in support of his visa application. However, integrity checks revealed that the Vice Chancellor who purportedly signed the certificate had left the university in 2015, and the certificate shared an issue number with other fraudulent documents. The Tribunal was satisfied that the delegate had reached the necessary state of mind to engage section 107 and that the notice issued complied with statutory requirements. The applicant did not attend the hearing, and no explanation was provided for this absence or lack of response to the hearing invitation.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had provided a bogus document and therefore failed to comply with section 103 of the Act. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 500 (Student) visa.