MIGRATION - Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa - Subclass 500 (Student) - financial capacity - genuine access to funds - access to available funds in accounts of family members - decision under review remitted

Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth), Schedule 16

Migration Act 1958 (Cth), s 65

Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 2, cl 500.214

1. This is an application for review of decisions made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs on 19 February 2024 to refuse to grant the applicants Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas under s 65 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act).
2. The applicants applied for the visas on 24 November 2023. At the time of application, Class TU contained two subclasses: Subclass 500 (Student) and Subclass 590 (Student Guardian). The primary visa applicant (the applicant) applied for the visa to undertake study in Australia and does not claim to meet the criteria for a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa.
3. The delegate in this case refused to grant the visas on the basis that the applicant did not satisfy the requirements of cl 500.214 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (the Regulations) because he was not satisfied that the applicant met the financial requirements for the grant of a student visa. The applicants applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), the predecessor of this Tribunal, for a review of that decision. The Tribunal has heard and determined this matter pursuant to the provisions of Schedule 16 to the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Amendments No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth).
4. The applicants appeared before the Tribunal on 16 July 2025 to give evidence and present arguments.
5. The applicants were assisted in relation to the review. The representative attended the Tribunal hearing.
6. For the following reasons, the Tribunal sets aside the decisions under review and remits the visa applications for reconsideration.

1. The criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa are set out in Part 500 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. The primary criteria in cl 500.211 to cl 500.218 must be satisfied by at least one applicant. Other members of the family unit, if any, who are applicants for the visa need only satisfy the secondary criteria. The issue in the present case is whether the applicant meets the requirements of cl 500.214.

1. Clause 500.214 requires the applicant to meet certain financial requirements. If the applicant is required to do so by the Minister, they must give evidence of financial capacity that satisfies the requirements set out in an instrument: cl 500.214(3). All primary applicants must also satisfy the Tribunal that, while they hold the visa, sufficient funds will be available to meet their costs and expenses during their intended stay in Australia, as well as the costs and expenses of any members of their family unit who will be in Australia: cl 500.214(2). The Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the relevant kinds of funds.
2. In the present case, the Minister has required the applicant to give evidence of financial capacity in accordance with cl 500.214(3).

Has the applicant provided evidence of financial capacity in accordance with the instrument?

1. The requirements for evidence of financial capacity for cl 500.214(3) are set out in the Migration (LIN/19198: Evidence of financial capacity - Subclass 500 Visa and Subclass 590 Visa) Instrument 2019, as compiled on 1 October 2023 (the Instrument).
2. In order to determine whether or not an applicant meets the requirements of cl 500.214(3), it is first necessary to calculate a figure representing the level of financial capacity the applicant is required to demonstrate. The Instrument provides for a number of ways of doing this, depending on the circumstances of the applicant. As the applicant in this case is a primary applicant for a subclass 500 (Student) visa, s 6 of the Instrument applies. Of the various subsections of that provision, only subsections (2) or (3) could possibly apply in this case. The applicant has not provided any evidence that engages sub-section (3). The only applicable subsection is, therefore, subsection (2).
3. Subsection (2) requires the decision maker to calculate three separate figures, the first in respect of the applicants' living costs and expenses, the second in respect of the applicants' travel costs (that is, the costs of returning to their home country at the end of their stay), and the third in respect of the applicant's course fees. Those three figures are components of the overall financial capacity figure, and are added together to obtain it. Once that figure has been calculated, it is necessary to examine the financial evidence the applicant has produced, in order to determine whether he or she does in fact have access to funds of at least that amount. The Tribunal will deal with those issues in turn.
4. The applicant in this case is enrolled in a Master of Information Technology course at Crown Institute of Higher Education. That course, according to the applicant's Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), scheduled to finish on 3 July 2026. The applicants therefore intend, as they confirmed at hearing, to remain in Australia for a further 348 days, a period of slightly less than 12 months. That being the case, the living costs and expenses component of the applicant's financial capacity figure must be calculated on the pro rata basis provided in s 11 of the Instrument. The Tribunal calculates that living costs and expenses component as AU$31,539, made up of AU$23,364 in respect of the applicant himself and AU$8,175 in respect of the second named applicant.
5. The Tribunal allows an amount of $2,000 for the applicants' travel expenses.
6. As to course fees, the Instrument requires the decision maker first to determine the applicant's period of study. If an applicant is already studying on the date of his or her visa application, then the period of study will start on the date of that application. If the applicant is not yet studying at that date, his or her period of study will commence on the first day of the applicant's course. In either case, it will end on the last day of the applicant's last course. If the period of study is 12 months or longer, the course fee component will be the amount of course fees still outstanding in respect of the first 12 months of the applicant's period of study.
7. The visa application in this case was made on 24 November 2023. On that date, the applicant was studying for a Bachelor of Information Technology on an extension CoE. The first day of the applicant's period of study is, therefore, 24 November 2023. The applicant's Bachelor of Information Technology course finished on 14 July 2024. The applicant's next course was the course he is currently studying, Master of Information Technology, which commenced on 9 September 2024 and is due to finish on 3 July 2026 (as noted above). There is no evidence before the Tribunal of any later enrolment. The applicant's period of study therefore ends on 3 July 2026. As that period of study is longer than 12 months, the course fee component of his financial capacity figure falls to be determined by reference to the first 12 months of his period of study.
8. That 12 month period takes in all but the first 18 days of the applicant's Bachelor of Information Technology extension CoE, and the first 2 months (approximately) of his Master of Information Technology. The applicant has provided a series of fee receipts issued by the course provider for his Bachelor of Information Technology (Gateway Business College) which, taken together, satisfy the Tribunal that he has paid all fees payable for his extension CoE. He has provided a copy of his letter of offer for his Master of Information Technology course which states that the fee payable for the first semester of that course (a period subsuming the course's first two months) is AU$7,900, and a fee receipt which satisfies the Tribunal he has paid that amount in full. The course fees component of the applicant's financial capacity figure is, therefore, AU$0.
9. On the basis of paragraphs 13 to 17 above, the Tribunal finds that in order to meet the requirements of cl 500.214(3), the applicant must establish access to an amount of at least AU$33,538.
10. The Tribunal now turns to the applicant's evidence of financial capacity. Section 6(2)(a) of the Instrument requires that evidence to take the form specified in s 10. The applicant has provided numerous documents as proof of financial capacity generally, but only the following are both sufficiently recent and fall within the scope of s 10:
    1. a Commonwealth Bank of Australia statement for a Smart Access account held by the applicant, showing a balance at 1 July 2025 of AU$17.34;
    2. a Commonwealth Bank of Australia balance statement for an account held by the second named applicant, showing a balance at 20 July 2025 of AU83,159.89;
    3. a Kumari Bank Ltd account statement and balance certificate for an account held by Lila Kumari Thakuri showing a balance at 1 July 2025 of NPR 3,617,892.40 (equivalent to AU$40,254.50 at exchange rates prevailing on the date of these reasons);
    4. a Commonwealth Bank of Australia account statement for a Smart Access account held by the second named applicant, showing a balance at 2 July 2025 of AU855.85; and
    5. a Kumari Bank Ltd account statement and balance certificate for an account held by Kalpana Shrestha showing a balance at 1 July 2025 of NPR 4,076,622.38 (equivalent to AU$45,358.56).
11. The applicants have provided affidavits sworn on 1 July 2025 by, on the one hand Mr Ganga Prasad Shrestha and Mrs Kalpana Shrestha (the applicant's parents), and on the other Mr Ishwari Prasad Thapa and Mrs Lila Kumari Thakuri (the second named applicant's parents) confirming their financial support for the applicants. Taking those affidavits into account, the Tribunal finds that the applicant has established financial capacity as required by s 6(2) of the Instrument totalling AU$169,646.14, a sum far in excess of the amount calculated in paragraph 18 above.
12. On the basis of the above, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(3).

Are there sufficient funds available to meet costs and expenses while the applicant holds the visa?

1. Sub-clause 500.214(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations requires that while an applicant holds a student visa, he or she has access to sufficient funds to meet his or her costs and expenses during his or her intended stay in Australia. This is a separate requirement to that contained in cl 500.214(3), although the evidence relevant to cl 500.214(3) may also be relevant to cl 500.214(2).
2. Given that the applicants have slightly less than a year left in Australia, the financial capacity evidence discussed above established sufficient funds for the rest of the applicant's stay. However, the applicants gave evidence at and after hearing as to their actual living costs and expenses and earnings. It is unnecessary to repeat that evidence here. It suffices to say that it satisfied the Tribunal the applicants would have sufficient funds for the rest of their stay even without financial support from their parents.
3. For these reasons, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214(2).

Will the applicant have genuine access to the funds?

1. To meet cl 500.214(1), the Tribunal must also be satisfied that the applicant will have genuine access to the funds referred to above.
2. The applicants are relying in large part on the funds held in their own bank accounts (particularly that of the second named applicant). The Tribunal is satisfied they have genuine access to those funds. The Tribunal is also satisfied on the basis of the affidavits mentioned in paragraph 20 above that the applicants have genuine access to their parents' funds.
3. As the Tribunal is satisfied the applicants will have genuine access to the funds upon which they rely, cl 500.214(1) is met.
4. Accordingly, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant meets cl 500.214. That being the case, the grounds upon which the second named applicant's student visa application was refused fall away.
5. Given the above findings, the appropriate course is to remit the applications for the visas to the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa.

1. The Tribunal sets aside the decisions under review and remits the applications for Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visas for reconsideration, in accordance with the order that the first named applicant meets the following criteria for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa:
   • cl 500.214 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Representative for the Applicant: Mrs Upasna Talwani