1508352 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for a Subclass 485 visa in the Graduate Work stream. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the requirements of clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which relate to the applicant's skills in relation to their nominated skilled occupation.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had applied for a skills assessment and if their skills had been assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation of Accountant. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether the applicant had provided evidence of applying for a skills assessment with the relevant assessing authority, CPA Australia, at the time of visa application, and whether CPA Australia had subsequently assessed the applicant's skills as suitable for the nominated occupation.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had nominated "Accountant" as their skilled occupation and had lodged a skills assessment application with CPA Australia on 8 April 2015, prior to lodging the visa application on 17 April 2015. This satisfied clause 485.223. However, the skills assessment outcome letter from CPA Australia, uploaded on 2 June 2015, indicated that the applicant was deemed "not academic suitable for migration with respect to the nominated skilled occupation." This finding meant the applicant did not meet the requirements of clause 485.224(1). Despite this, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did meet the requirements of both clauses 485.223 and 485.224.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa to the Minister for reconsideration, with the direction that the applicant meets the criteria specified in clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.