We won AAT appeal for the decision to refuse a student visa on the basis of not meeting the GTE requirement.
Our client applied for a student visa through an education agent. This was refused shortly after for not meeting the Genuine Temporary Entrant GTE requirement. We assisted him in the AAT appeal and we won the case within 1 year.
Background
The client had arrived in Australia in 2017 and had been studying several courses in Australia. Prior to this, he had completed a Masters degree in his home country and years of work experience. He applied to renew his student visa wishing to complete courses at Certificate IV and Diploma level.
His application to renew his student visa to complete more courses at a lower qualification level was rejected for not meeting the GTE requirements. We then helped him in the AAT appeal.
Difficulties with this case
One of the most common legal requirement a student visa application will be refused is for not meeting the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement.
What is GTE requirement?
An applicant for the student visa application must show that they are a genuine applicant for entry and stay in Australia to complete studies and that they only intend to stay in Australia temporarily. For example, if the Minister thinks you are only studying the courses for the purpose of extending your stay in Australia then your application will be refused.
Factors that they will consider include:
- the applicant’s circumstances in their home country and in Australia (such as personal ties, employment ties, financial ties etc.);
- the applicant’s immigration history;
- the value of the course towards the applicant’s future.
At first instance, the delegate of the Department did not believe that he was a genuine applicant nor did he intend to stay in Australia temporarily. One of the factors is the fact that he had completed high level qualifications already in his home country and the courses he has completed or wishes to complete in Australia were all short VET courses.
How did we win this appeal?
Originally, the Tribunal agreed that if the student visa was granted, this would extend his period of stay to 6 years which is recognised as a very long period of time to be here for the purposes of short vocational education training courses. He also agreed that when compared to his high level qualifications already obtained, 6 years in Australia to complete short low-level VET courses was inconsistent with the GTE requirement.
Our firm submitted a full legal submission supported by relevant evidence to support all the factors that he was a genuine student and that he did genuinely intend to stay in Australia temporarily only.
In the end, the Tribunal accepted our evidence and submission and remitted the case back to the Department for visa grant.
If you have recently been refused a visa and want to appeal your case, you can get in touch with us to discuss further: Book a Consultation
Testimonial
Appeal won: student visa refusal based on GTE requirements
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Free Assessment
Please call us or fill in the questionnaire here for a free initial assessment. After a simple communication, we will understand your concerns and visa requirements in detail, and then provide a timely and comprehensive professional consultation with tailor-made plans.
Consultation
Our consultations are typically 45-60 minutes long, which allows us to provide you with a detailed strategy to address the needs and concerns you raised with us during the initial call.
Our fee is $400 + GST for the full session. You can book in a consultation by calling us, emailing us or filling in the Contact Us form.
Developing and Managing a Strategy
During our consultation session, we will go through in more detail your background and circumstances to ensure that we can provide a tailored solution to your problems and making sure that you meet all the legal requirements. If we notice any potential issues, we will also immediately formulate a solution.
We’ll also balance time required, cost and difficulty and allow you choose the most appropriate strategy. We will then attend to all visa application matters on your behalf.