Student visa cancellation for unsatisfactory course progress or attendance (condition 8202) in 2026
How condition 8202 links enrolment, course progress and attendance to your student visa, and what follows a provider certification.
Yes — a student visa can be cancelled if your education provider certifies that you have not achieved satisfactory course progress or satisfactory course attendance. That is what condition 8202 in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 does: it requires you to avoid either certification being made about you for any registered course you undertake. The cancellation consequences are not set out in the condition itself; the note to condition 8202 directs readers to the Migration Act 1958 — sections 41 and 116 to 119 — for cancellation where a condition is breached.
What follows reflects the official text published on the Federal Register of Legislation as at September 2026. It explains the rule in general terms and is not advice about any individual situation; where your own case turns on the facts, the current official wording and qualified professional advice are what count.
What does condition 8202 actually require you to do?
For most holders, the condition has three limbs. You must be enrolled in a full-time registered course, you must keep that enrolment at the required qualification level, and you must ensure that neither of the two certification events happens.
- Enrolment: you must be enrolled in a full-time registered course.
- Level: subject to one exception discussed below, you must maintain enrolment in a registered course that, once completed, gives you a qualification from the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) at the same level as, or higher than, the registered course for which the visa was granted.
- Certification: you must ensure that your education provider has not certified you, for a registered course you are undertaking, as not achieving satisfactory course progress, and has not certified you as not achieving satisfactory course attendance.
Both certification limbs are tied to section 19 of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (the ESOS Act) and to the relevant standard of the national code made by the Education Minister under section 33 of that Act.
Does everyone holding a student visa need to be in a registered course?
Not quite everyone. The condition splits holders into two categories, and the wording differs between them.
| Holder | What the condition says about enrolment |
|---|---|
| A Defence student, a Foreign Affairs student, or a secondary exchange student | Must be enrolled in a full-time course of study or training |
| Any other holder covered by the condition | Must be enrolled in a full-time registered course |
The first group is described in terms of study or training generally, while the second must be in a course that is registered. The certification and qualification-level limbs apply only to the second group, in respect of a "registered course undertaken by the holder".
Is it my results, or my provider's certification, that breaches the condition?
It is the certification, read together with the provider's obligations under the ESOS Act framework. Condition 8202 itself does not set a pass rate, a number of failed units, or an attendance percentage. It operates by reference to whether the education provider has certified that you have not achieved satisfactory course progress or satisfactory course attendance for section 19 of the ESOS Act and the relevant standard of the national code.
Take a hypothetical example: suppose an applicant fails two units in one study period and the provider takes no step under section 19. On the wording of the condition alone, no breach arises from the results by themselves. The same applicant would be in a different position once the provider makes a certification for that course, because paragraph 8202(2)(c) then applies.
That distinction matters practically, because what the provider must do before certifying — including how it assesses progress and attendance, and what it must take into account — sits in the ESOS Act framework and the national code standard rather than in the visa condition.
Can I change to a course at a lower AQF level?
Generally the course you move into must lead to a qualification at the same or a higher AQF level than the course for which the visa was granted. There is one express exception in subclause 8202(3).
A holder is taken to satisfy the level requirement if they are enrolled in a course at AQF level 10 and change their enrolment to a course at AQF level 9 — in effect, moving from a doctoral qualification to a master's qualification. Outside that specific pathway, the same-or-higher rule in paragraph 8202(2)(b) stands.
Worth noting that the exception only addresses the qualification-level requirement. It does not touch the full-time registration requirement or the two certification limbs.
How does a breach turn into a cancellation?
The certification is not itself a cancellation decision. Condition 8202 sets the standard of conduct; the Schedule 8 note states that cancellation for breaches of conditions is dealt with under sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958. Those provisions are where the power to cancel, and the consequences that flow from it, are located, and they are the appropriate place to check your own position.
The note also makes a second point worth keeping in view: whether a visa of a particular class can be made subject to condition 8202 depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is condition 8202 on a student visa?
Condition 8202 is a visa condition set out in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. It requires full-time enrolment in the right kind of course, requires the enrolment to stay at the same or a higher AQF level, and prohibits the holder from being certified by their provider as not achieving satisfactory course progress or satisfactory course attendance.
Will failing a subject automatically breach condition 8202?
On the wording of the condition, no. The breach is tied to the education provider certifying the holder under section 19 of the ESOS Act 2000 and the relevant standard of the national code, not to unit results on their own. Whether a provider certifies is governed by that framework rather than by the visa condition.
Can my visa be affected by attendance alone if my results are good?
Yes. Subparagraphs 8202(2)(c)(i) and (ii) create two separate certifications — one for unsatisfactory course progress and one for unsatisfactory course attendance. Either certification, for a registered course the holder is undertaking, engages the condition independently of the other.
Can I move from a lower AQF course to a higher one without breaching the condition?
The level requirement permits enrolment at the same level as, or a higher level than, the registered course for which the visa was granted, so moving up a level fits within it. Moving down a level generally does not, with the single exception that moving from an AQF level 10 course to an AQF level 9 course is taken to satisfy the requirement.
Is being certified by my provider the same as having my visa cancelled?
No. A certification is made by the education provider; cancellation is dealt with under the Migration Act 1958, sections 41 and 116 to 119, to which the note to condition 8202 refers. The two steps are related but distinct, and the cancellation step is not described in detail in the condition text itself.
Where can I check the current wording of condition 8202?
The official text is published on the Federal Register of Legislation as part of Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Because the text is updated over time, the version on that register carries an effective date that should be checked before relying on any particular wording.