1. In considering whether the applicant satisfies cl 500.212(a), the Tribunal must have regard to Direction No 69, 'Assessing the genuine temporary entrant criterion for Student visa and Student Guardian visa applications', made under s 499 of the Act. This Direction, which was in effect at the date of the Applicant's application for a student visa, requires the Tribunal to have regard to a number of specified factors in relation to:
   • the applicant's circumstances in their home country, potential circumstances in Australia, and the value of the course to the applicant's future;
   • the applicant's immigration history, including previous applications for an Australian visa or for visas to other countries, and previous travel to Australia or other countries;
   • if the applicant is a minor, the intentions of a parent, legal guardian or spouse of the applicant; and
   • any other relevant information provided by the applicant, or information otherwise available to the decision maker, including information that may be either beneficial or unfavourable to the applicant.
2. The Direction indicates that the factors specified should not be used as a checklist but rather, are intended only to guide decision makers when considering the applicant's circumstances as a whole, in reaching a finding about whether the applicant satisfies the genuine temporary entrant criterion.

1. I will set out my discussion of the evidence and my findings in this matter through a chronology of key events.
2. 6 April 2018 - the Applicant arrived in Australia on a student visa which ceased effect on 9 December 2019.[2]
3. 9 April 2018 - the Applicant enrolled in a Diploma of Leadership and Management course in Australia for which the enrolment ceased on 9 October 2019. [3]
4. 9 December 2019 - as well as the Applicant's student visa ceasing on that day, the Applicant was granted a bridging visa which lasted until 26 February 2020, it would seem, because the Applicant had made an application for a further student visa subsequently granted on 25 February 2020.[4]
5. 25 February 2020 - the Applicant was granted a further student visa which ceased effect on 2 March 2022.
6. 6 July 2020 - the Applicant enrolled in a Certificate IV in Project Management Practice for which the enrolment finished on 3 January 2021.
7. 15 February 2021 - the Applicant enrolled in a Diploma of Community Services for which the enrolment finished on 14 August 2022.
8. 1 March 2022 - the Applicant was granted a further bridging visa which ceased effect on 11 May 2022. It seems that the Applicant applied for a further student visa, and this bridging visa was granted pending the decision on the application for that further student visa.[5]
9. 11 May 2022 - the Applicant was granted a further bridging visa which ceased effect on 27 July 2022, again pending the decision on the application for a further student visa.
10. 28 May 2022 - the Applicant returned to her home country of Nepal for one month, returning on 20 June 2022.
11. 27 July 2022 - the Applicant was granted a further student visa which ceased effect on 18 December 2023.
12. 23 August 2022 - the date on which the Applicant separated from her husband, whom she married in Nepal in 2017.[6] There were no children of the marriage, and they were living apart at the date of separation.
13. 10 October 2022 - the Applicant made a further enrolment in the Diploma of Community Services course which finished on 8 October 2023.
14. 18 October 2022 - the Applicant enrolled in an Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management due to commence on this date and finish on 18 October 2023 but for which the enrolment was cancelled for the reason of 'Non-commencement of studies'.
15. 22 April 2023 - the Applicant returned to Nepal for six weeks, arriving back in Australia on 5 June 2023.
16. 18 December 2023 - the Applicant made the further application for a student visa which is the subject of this decision. The Applicant was granted a bridging visa on the same date pending determination of that application.
17. 29 January 2024 - the Applicant enrolled in a Certificate III in Pathology Collection for which the enrolment finished on 23 September 2024. Subsequently in 2024, the Applicant enrolled in a total of four nursing courses each of which she cancelled. One of the courses had an enrolment which would have continued until 26 April 2027.
18. 4 May 2024 - the date of the Delegate's decision refusing the Applicant's most recent application for a student visa, and which is the decision the subject of this review by the Tribunal.
19. 23 May 2024 - the Applicant applied to the then Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for review of the Delegate's decision.
20. 3 September 2024 - the Applicant enrolled in a Bachelor of Human Services course for which the enrolment finishes on 31 August 2027. This is her only current enrolment.
21. It follows from the above chronology that the Applicant only enrolled in her current enrolment in the Bachelor of Human Services course after the Delegate's decision.
22. Although the Applicant made her application to the then AAT, under the provisions of the Migration Act and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth), the application may continue to be heard by the Administrative Review Tribunal under transitional provisions in the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth).

1. The Delegate made a decision refusing the Applicant's application for a student visa, on 4 May 2024. The Delegate took the following factors into account in arriving at the decision:

(a) on the Applicant's circumstances in Nepal, the Applicant had declared her relationship status as 'separated' and provided a statutory declaration that she had been separated since August 2022;

(b) the Applicant had not provided any evidence of financial or economic ties to Nepal with her application. The Delegate acknowledged that the Applicant has personal ties in Nepal in the form of her immediate family members, which may act as an incentive for her to return home. However, the Delegate also considered that the Applicant had demonstrated limited economic ties to Nepal, which diminishes her incentive to return home on completion of her proposed studies in Australia;

(c) as the date of the Delegate's decision, the Applicant was proposing to undertake a Certificate III in Pathology Collection and two nursing courses. The Applicant had declared completion of a Diploma of Leadership and Management and a Diploma of Community Service;

(d) the Applicant had also declared an employment history in Australia commencing in August 2019 and that she had been working as a personal care worker since November 2023 at a health care provider. The Delegate considered the Applicant's employment in Australia to be a financial tie which may serve as an incentive to remain in Australia after completion of the proposed study;

(e) the Delegate considered the Applicant's Genuine Temporarily Entrant (GTE) statement submitted with her most recent application for a student visa but placed greater weight on the Applicant's employment history and study history in Australia and was concerned that the Applicant was continuing to study in Australia to maintain ongoing residence here;

(f) in describing her plans for the future in her GTE statement, she described opportunities in Nepal once she had achieved a degree in nursing, and that she was 'sure' to secure herself a position in one of the leading hospitals in Nepal such as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Educator, Nurse Manager and so on. The Delegate considered that and was not satisfied that the Applicant had demonstrated the value of her then proposed courses to her future;

(g) in considering the Applicant's immigration history, and that she had been studying in Australia since 2018 and proposed to continue studying here until April 2027, the Applicant's intentions, with regard to the length of time already spent in Australia, raised serious concerns for the Delegate that the Applicant may be attempting to circumvent the intentions of the Australian migration program and use the student visa program to maintain her stay in Australia.

1. The Delegate weighed up these factors as a whole, and was not satisfied that the Applicant intended to stay temporarily in Australia (for the purposes of study). The Delegate therefore refused to grant the Applicant a student visa. The Applicant subsequently applied for review of that decision to the then AAT.

1. On 7 August 2025, the Applicant's representative provided to the Tribunal a completed Request for Student Visa Information form. In that document, amongst other things, the Applicant described the courses she had completed to that date, consisting of the Diploma of Leadership and Management, the Diploma of Community Services and a Certificate III in Pathology Collection. She had earlier provided to the Department with her latest application for a student visa:

(a) a copy of the Diploma of Leadership and Management, issued on 4 November 2019; and

(b) a letter from her then education provider (Mercury Colleges) dated 28 November 2023 recording her completion of 13 out of 17 units for the Diploma of Community Services course.

1. She also described her reasons for returning to Nepal, as listed in the chronology above, to be that return to Nepal in June 2022, was because of her mother's death, and in April 2023, for the first anniversary of the death of her mother.
2. Also prior to the hearing, on 4 November and 6 November 2025, the Applicant's representative provided an updated GTE statement on the Applicant's study in Australia to which the representative also attached additional documents including bank statements for the Applicant and her father, pay slips for her employment in Australia and a property valuation for land in Nepal owned by the Applicant's father.
3. The updated GTE statement contained the Applicant's explanation for the change of focus in her studies in Australia. She referred to first enrolling in the Diploma of Leadership and Management course which she said deepened her understanding of how effective leadership involves actively contributing to the well-being of the community. She said that realisation led her to shift her academic focus and pursue the Diploma of Community Services. She said that the COVID pandemic highlighted for her the critical role of healthcare professionals and that her own family faced challenges during that pandemic.
4. She then felt drawn to a career in nursing and that her current employment in an aged care home allowed her to gain hands-on experience and practical skills in the health sector. For that reason, she decided to continue her studies and completed a Certificate III in Pathology Collection. As to her enrolment in the nursing courses, she said she was unable to proceed with those courses due to not meeting the English language entry requirements. Since then, having a background in community service, she decided to study a Bachelor of Human Services.
5. In the updated GTE statement, the Applicant described her enquiries into study options in Adelaide in the community and human services area, and why she chose the Bachelor of Human Services degree at Equals International as her education provider. She also described research she had carried out about courses and providers in Nepal. In particular, she gave the reasons for not undertaking a course in Nepal which included that all the programs are four years long which she said was too lengthy for her plans. She also said the courses did not align with her career goals particularly in terms of community development and international perspectives. She described her plans to establish an aged care facility in Nepal.
6. For her current Bachelor of Human Services course, she said that of the 24 required units, she had completed 10 units and was left with only 14 more which she said she would be completing by August 2027. She had been granted credit for six units from other studies.
7. She also described in detail her future plans for employment in Nepal after she completed her current studies. She referred to research she had done in employment for community workers, social welfare programs and education and awareness campaigns. She said she planned to go back to Nepal after completing her current course and would be able to find a job in various non-government organisations (NGOs) and community organisations.
8. On her personal background in Nepal, she said she planned to return to Nepal to reunite with her family. Her father and siblings had been supportive of her endeavours and were happy with her decision to pursue her current studies and were willing to support her emotionally and financially. She said she owed it to them to 'finally fulfil something worthwhile'. Her family had helped her financially with her education fees including tuition fees, material fees, living costs and other incidental costs in Australia.
9. The Applicant attached to the updated GTE statement, an 'Academic Directors Merit List' document issued by her education provider, Equals International, saying that she had been listed for that Merit List for trimester one 2025 for outstanding academic performance within the Bachelor of Human Services course she was undertaking. The document states that to qualify for the Merit List, students must achieve a grade point average of 6.0 while carrying a full course load and that the Applicant had achieved that level.

1. At the hearing, the Applicant agreed that she had been studying in Australia since April 2018, over seven years, and that her current studies would keep her in Australia until August 2027. I asked the Applicant, given her studies in Australia since 2018, whether her plan was to become a long-term student in Australia? She said that she just wanted to finish her current course and then return to Nepal.
2. The Applicant confirmed the chronology of visas issued to her and courses undertaken by her in Australia as set out in the chronology described above. I asked her what she hoped to gain by doing the project management course, because she seemed to have changed study purposes into community services and human services courses? She replied that in doing the project management course, she wanted to learn about teamwork and strategic thinking. She then decided to do the Diploma of Community Services.
3. The enrolment records for the Applicant in the PRISMS database record the Applicant enrolling twice in the Diploma of Community Services course, as described in the chronology above, and I asked the Applicant why she did the course a second time? She replied that because of the effect of the COVID pandemic, she was unable to do a placement as part of the course and enrolled in the course again after the COVID restrictions were lifted, enabling her to do the placement. She said she did not need to go back to Nepal in May 2022 to get a fresh student visa and instead returned there because her mother had passed away.
4. As for the enrolment in the Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management in which the Applicant enrolled in October 2022, she said that instead of doing that course, she enrolled in a Diploma of Community Services which she finished in October 2023.
5. The Applicant confirmed that she enrolled in two nursing courses, but could not satisfy the English language requirements for the courses. She completed the Certificate III in Pathology Collection as an introduction into nursing. Although the purpose of that course was also to get a job in pathology collection, she tried to get employment in that area but could not get a job in the area. She has not worked in pathology collection in Australia.

1. For the Applicant's current course of a Bachelor of Human Services, I referred to her updated GTE statement provided to the Tribunal on 6 November where she said that she had completed 10 units in her current course and had only 14 more to complete by 2027. She confirmed that, and that she was enrolled in two units now, on Mental Health Concerns, and Delivery of Services to Children and Young People. In those current subjects, she said she had two items of assessment to complete in each of them, with two weeks to complete them, as at the date of hearing.
2. The Applicant was able to explain in some detail what she had been learning in each of those units, including on 'trauma informed practice', and the tasks for assessment for the subjects.
3. On credit that she said she had been given for six subjects, she said that she gained credit from the Diploma of Community Services. I asked if that reduced the number of subjects she had to do to only eight more subjects, and she said that was not the case and credit had already been applied for the 10 units which she had completed. She had completed four subjects since she commenced the course in September 2024.
4. I observed to the Applicant and her representative that she had not provided to the Tribunal a record of subjects completed in her current degree, and foreshadowed that I would issue directions to the Applicant to provide them after the hearing.
5. I asked the Applicant at the hearing if she intended to do any more study in Australia after completing her present course? She said no, after she obtains her current degree and with her experience she planned to get a job in Nepal. She said she needed to gain a Bachelor's degree to get a job in Nepal but once she had done that, it should be easy to get a job there.

1. At the hearing, I asked the Applicant what employment she hoped to get out of doing her current course in Human Services? She said she hoped to get employment as a coordinator in community development or as a supporter social worker, counsellor, or as a community development officer. I asked the Applicant if there was much government funding available for community workers in Nepal, admittedly a developing country? She said that there is some government funding, and also funding available through NGOs.
2. As to the sort of NGOs she would propose to work for, she said she would like to work as a youth advocate, social worker or community worker. She referred to an organisation named 'Blinknow', which she said worked in the community development area.
3. I asked if she has to do placements or practical work with a community group as part of her present course and she said that she had to do a placement in 2026 and had started to apply, to Centrecare (Adelaide), and Baptist Care as a community worker or with a government department which works with a caseload. She said the placements will go from January to February and last for three months.

1. As foreshadowed at the hearing, after it had finished, I issued written directions to the Applicant under s 79(1) of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth) to provide to the Tribunal a document on the letterhead of the Applicant's education provider, describing progress she had made in her current Bachelor of Human Services degree.
2. The Applicant's representative provided documents to the Tribunal in response to the directions, on 25 November 2025. They were on the letterhead of the Applicant's education provider, Equals International and included:

(a) a list of the six units for which the Applicant had been granted credit for her current course from her previous Diploma of Community Services;

(b) a letter, undated, which confirmed the Applicant's enrolment in the Bachelor of Human Services degree and listed the units (14 in number) which she was yet to complete;

(c) a document headed 'Official Academic Transcript' dated 13 November 2025, which listed subjects which she had completed since trimester 3, 2024, which showed that she had successfully completed 10 units, including those for which she had been granted credit.

1. What concerned me about that document was that the subjects for which the Applicant was enrolled for the current, third trimester, 2025, were two practical placement subjects for which she had been given credit, and was not recorded as being enrolled in any other units. Further, she was not recorded to be enrolled in any subjects for the second trimester 2025, and had not completed a subject since 22 April 2024. On one view of it, that appeared like the Applicant had not been enrolled in any subject which she was actively studying since April 2025.
2. The Tribunal wrote to the Applicant's representative on 10 December 2025 asking the representative to explain that dichotomy.
3. The Applicant's representative responded on 19 December 2025 explaining that the transcript previously provided dated 13 November 2025 did not include two units of Mental Health and Well-being and the Delivery of Services to Children and Young People[7] because she had not completed the assessment for those subjects as of 13 November 2025. However, she had now completed the assessment for those subjects which had been graded. The representative provided an updated Official Academic Transcript on the letterhead of Equals International which included those subjects in studies undertaken in trimester 3 2025 and recorded that the Applicant had achieved results of a credit and distinction in those units.
4. As to the potential gap in study between 22 April 2025, and the third trimester 2025, the representative provided a 'Unit Enrolment Letter' dated 31 March 2025 on the letterhead of Equals International addressed to the Applicant which congratulated her on completing eight units in the study year, which enabled her to be 'on a well-deserved compulsory Trimester Break' from 28 March 2025 to 29 August 2025.
5. That amounts to a gap of approximately one semester, but I accept that the Applicant is not responsible for the timetabling of semesters by the provider. In reality, it seems that Equals International, at least in the Bachelor of Human Services degree operates on the first and third trimesters of an academic year. In reality, that is no different to universities traditionally operating, in years gone past, on two semesters a year, with a long break between November of one year, and late February of the next.

Analysis of the evidence on the Applicant's intention to stay in Australia temporarily for the purposes of study

1. The objective facts reveal that the Applicant has been studying in Australia since 2018 for a range of courses. The present course she is studying will have her remain in Australia until April 2027, a total period of approximately nine years. That a long time to be in Australia temporarily for the purposes of study, and that duration is a factor which does count against her being in Australia as a genuine temporarily entrant for the purposes of study.
2. On the other hand, the Applicant has successfully completed courses in which she has persisted with her enrolment. I am satisfied that she has pursued her studies in Australia with diligence and that her enrolment in courses here is not simply a smokescreen for an extended holiday or solely for the purposes of working here.
3. The change in courses by the Applicant also causes me concern about whether she is genuinely in Australia temporarily for the purposes of study and does intend to return to Nepal at the conclusion of her current course. It is hard to see benefit that the Applicant gained from the earlier courses she enrolled in, namely the Diploma of Leadership and Management and the Certificate IV in Project Management Practice, from the perspective of the current day, and the more recent courses of a Diploma of Community Services and the current Bachelor of Human Services course. On the other hand, there is a clear connection between those two recent courses for the Applicant's currently stated goal to work in the community sector in Nepal.
4. The Applicant has, in my view satisfactorily explained why she wanted to embark on studies in nursing, but did not go ahead with those courses, because she could not satisfy the English language requirements. She has also satisfactorily explained why she enrolled in and completed the pathology course, as an entrée into nursing studies, and also to get a job in pathology collection, albeit that she was unsuccessful in that endeavour
5. The Applicant has also demonstrated close connections with her family in Nepal, in returning there twice because of the death of her mother. Her father has supported her and will have supported her financially for a long period of time in Australia, almost nine years by the time she proposes to finish her study in April 2027. The Applicant had separated from her husband in 2022, during her studies in Australia. I give no weight to that factor either in the Applicant's favour, or against her.
6. The Applicant gave evidence that she intends to return to Nepal after her current course finishes in 2027 to work in the community services sector there. I find that the Applicant will feel a moral duty to return to Nepal given the support that her family have provided for her studies in Australia.
7. The Applicant's evidence at the hearing was that she did not intend to do any more study in Australia after completing her present course and that she intended to return to Nepal and get a job in the community services area. I would therefore not expect that the Applicant would enrol in any further courses in Australia, and it would reflect very badly on her credibility if she did so for any reason.
8. The work the Applicant has done in Australia since 2023, in Adelaide Calvary Hospital, and since then as a personal care worker and home support worker[8] is consistent with her studies in community services and her stated intention to work in that area on her return to Nepal.
9. The Applicant has demonstrated diligence in applying herself to her studies in her current course, by obtaining recognition in the Academic Director's Merit List for trimester 1 2025, because she had achieved a grade point average of 6.0.
10. I was initially concerned about academic records provided on behalf of the Applicant which suggested that she was not actually enrolled in any subjects in the third trimester 2025 because she had provided a record that only indicated that she was undertaking professional practice placements in the current trimester 3, 2025 which was due for completion on 17 December 2025 since she had already received credit for those units. However, the Applicant's representative has explained that issue through an updated official academic transcript for the full academic year 2025, and the 'compulsory Trimester Break' between the end of March and the end of August 2025.
11. On the basis of the above, I am satisfied that the Applicant intends genuinely to stay in Australia temporarily for the purposes of study. Accordingly, the Applicant meets cl 500.212(a).

Does the Applicant intend to comply with visa conditions?

1. For the applicant for a student visa to meet cl 500.212(b), the Tribunal must be satisfied that the applicant intends to comply with any conditions subject to which the visa is granted, having regard to the applicant's record of compliance with any condition of any visa they previously held, and the applicant's stated intention to comply with any conditions to which the visa may be subject.
2. A visa granted to an applicant who meets the primary criteria must have the following conditions imposed (cl 500.611(1)): 8105 (work limitation), 8202 (enrolment/course progress/course attendance), 8501 (health insurance), 8516 (continue to satisfy criteria), 8517 (dependents' education), 8532 (arrangements for under 18s) and 8533 (notify address/education provider). For visa applications made on or after 1 July 2022, condition 8208 (no critical technology related study without approval) must also be imposed. The following conditions may also be imposed in some cases (cl 500.611(2)): 8535 (limited visa entitlement), 8303 (no disruptive or violent activity) and 8534 (limited visa entitlement).
3. The Applicant's updated GTE statement provided to the Tribunal on 4 November 2025 contains a statement by the Applicant that she is aware she always needs to adhere to the conditions of a visa, and described them, including a requirement that she not work more than 48 hours per fortnight. She had demonstrated consciousness of the need to comply with the conditions of a visa. She has applied for further student visas in Australia before her existing visas expired.
4. The Department has not provided any information or evidence of non-compliance by the Applicant with conditions of her visas.
5. On the basis of the above, I am satisfied that the Applicant intends to comply with the conditions subject to which the visa is granted as required by cl 500.212(b).

Is the Applicant a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student because of any other relevant matter?

1. For the applicant for a student visa to meet cl 500.212(c), the Tribunal must be satisfied that the applicant is a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student because of any other relevant matter (in addition to the requirements in cl 500.212(a) and (b)).
2. There are no other matters that I am aware of, that I need to take into account in assessing whether the Applicant is a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student.

1. Accordingly, I am satisfied that the Applicant is a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student as required by cl 500.212.
2. Given the above findings, the appropriate course is to remit the application for the visa to the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa.

1. The Tribunal sets aside the decision under review and remits the application for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa for reconsideration, in accordance with the order that the Applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
   • cl 500.212 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Representative for the Applicant: Mr Tejas Patel (MARN: 1688211)

[1] As was the then Minister's then title.

[2] The Tribunal has obtained the list of the Applicant's movements into and out of Australia from the Commonwealth department which administers the Act (the Department). The information on the Applicant's movements in this chronology comes from that list.

[3] The Tribunal obtained a record of the Applicant's studies in Australia by reference to the course in which the Applicant enrolled and the current status of that enrolment, from the PRISMS database. The dates of the Applicant's enrolment in courses in the chronology comes from that database. PRISMS is an acronym for the Provider Registration and International Student Management System operated by the Commonwealth Government.

[4] A fact which the Applicant confirmed at the hearing.

[5] A fact which the Applicant also confirmed at the hearing.

[6] As described in a statutory declaration by the Applicant dated 23 December 2023, provided to the Department with her latest application for a student visa.

[7] Which the Applicant described doing, at the hearing.

[8] Described in her completed Request for Student Visa Information form.