Decade-long accounting diploma: student enrols in 9 courses, completes 1

A delegate of the Minister of Immigration said in a letter to Ghimire: “You were granted this visa to study a Certificate IV in Accounting, Diploma of Accounting and Bachelor of Business and Commerce at University of Western Sydney.”

In early 2023, Ghimire applied to the Department of Home Affairs for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) Student (subclass 500) visa to extend his stay in Australia. 

In his application, Ghimire said that he “always wanted to become a professional accountant” and came to Australia to gain a “world class advanced Accounting degree”, which would help him find employment in financial services.

“I am genuinely enjoying the academic and non-academic environment in the college and progressing well academically which has been the primary goal of my coming to Australia,” Ghimire said.

In late 2017, Ghimire completed a diploma of accounting at Elite Educational Institute, which had a one-year expected completion period.

“The applicant did not complete the Certificate IV in Accounting or the Diploma of Accounting. He never commenced the Bachelor of Business and Commerce,” Judge Gillian Eldershaw found in her 16 July 2026 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia decision.

“After completion of this course and if I manage to get some industry internship at the end of the course, I want to fully work as a professional Accountant in the future,” Ghimire told the Department of Home Affairs in late 2019.

Just two years later, after enrolling in a total of eight courses, the judge found that in mid-2021, Ghimire enrolled in a Diploma of Hospitality at Australian Ideal College.

“Somehow, I got [fed] up with the numbers and accounting course. And decided to change my course to Diploma Hospitality Management,” Ghimire told the Administrative Appeals Tribunal during a 2021 hearing.

“As such, the Tribunal is not satisfied that after a period of more than 7 years in Australia, the applicant intends to genuinely stay in Australia temporarily…,” the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s decision on 18 November 2021 said.

Despite his initial visa conditions, in the seven years that Ghimire spent in Australia, he had only completed one course in 2017.

“The applicant did not complete the Certificate IV in Accounting or the Diploma of Accounting. He never commenced the Bachelor of Business and Commerce,” Judge Eldershaw said.

“The fact that you have not sought Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL) on two occasions; for the Diploma of Accounting and Bachelor of Accounting; or chosen an education provider that recognises your previous qualifications towards the current studies suggests that you are deliberately attempting to extend your stay in Australia by forgoing to request for RPL or intentionally choosing education providers that do not recognise your previous qualifications,” the Department of Home Affairs said in a 2019 letter to Ghimire.

In line with the tribunal’s decision on 18 November 2021, that Ghimire’s actions were “not consistent with the expected behaviour of a genuine temporary applicant for entry and stay as a student,” the judge rejected Ghimire’s application for a judicial review of the Minister of Immigration’s decision to refuse Ghimire a grant of a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa.

The case citation: Ghimire v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2026] FedCFamC2G 1348 (16 July 2026)