Important information for international students who had their Australian Student Visas automatically cancelled between May 2001 and 16 August 2005

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is working to contact student visa holders who may be affected by a recent Australian court case.

A recent court case has found that because the form used by education providers to advise students they were not attending classes or meeting course requirements advised students to attend the nearest DIMIA office rather than any DIMIA office, this form was defective.

Which Students might be affected

The judgment affects people who were student visa holders between May 2001 and 16 August 2005. Importantly, it only applies to those who failed to report to a DIMIA office within 28 days of being sent a breach notice by their education provider.

Student visa holders are obliged to maintain enrolment in a ‘registered course’, attend classes and achieve a satisfactory academic result.

Students who did not comply with these attendance or academic requirements were issued with a written notice by their education providers. This notice gave the student 28 days to report to DIMIA and discuss their case. If they failed to do this, their visa was automatically cancelled.

Effect of the decision of Uddin v. MIMIA

Because of this decision, all automatic cancellations under section 137J of the Migration Act 1958, which flowed from a section 20 notice in the same form as that sent in the above case, are not effective and the visa must be treated as not cancelled by section 137J.

Accordingly, as the above decision affects all section 137J cancellations between May 2001 and 16 August 2005, DIMIA has decided that all such cancellations would be reversed. This has now been done.

This reversal ensures that all people affected will not have further visa applications rejected on the now incorrect basis that they were unlawful non-citizens. All visa applications lodged will be assessed on their merits.

Visas re-instated as a result of this decision may still be liable for cancellation. Whether this occurs will depend on individual circumstances.

Advice for Students

If you are a student and you believe that you are affected by the above decision, you should contact the department.

If you are in Australia, contact 131 881.

If you are overseas, check with the nearest Australian Visa Office.