Loophole gives lost visas back
The reason for their success was a two-word oversight in the maze of federal law and regulation on overseas students.
Last month, a Federal Court ruling on this point left the Immigration Department with as many as 6000 student visas invalidly cancelled between July 2007 and December 2009.
Students are getting the benefit of the ruling. By yesterday, the Migration Review Tribunal had handed down favourable decisions in 43 cases, in effect declaring the visas of these students were never cancelled.
They had gone to the tribunal to appeal the loss of their visas, in some cases arguing the fault lay with the education provider.
Under federal law, universities and colleges must report foreign students who falter academically or fail to attend class.
If the students do not present themselves with photo identification to the Immigration Department within 28 days, their visas are cancelled. The drafting error affected this process.
But the court ruling may not help many students, according to Sydney migration lawyer David Bitel. "They can't get a visa back if the visa's expired, so what do they do?" he said.
An Immigration Department spokesman said students should contact the department, which would consider their circumstances carefully.
The department has other visa cancellation powers, unaffected by the ruling, should these students be found to have poor attendance or academic records. Whether or not the department would use those powers would be decided on a case by case basis, the spokesman said.
Source: The Australian