1515594 (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal regarding a Subclass 189 (Skilled - Independent) visa application. The applicant sought review of the decision not to grant the visa, which had been refused by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicant had provided a valid and timely skills assessment for his nominated occupation of Bricklayer (ANZSCO CODE 331111) at the time he was invited to apply for the visa.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements of clause 189.212(1) of the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to ascertain if the applicant possessed a skills assessment deemed suitable by the relevant assessing authority for his nominated occupation at the time of invitation to apply for the visa. Further, the Tribunal considered whether the skills assessment met the additional requirements for applications made on or after 1 July 2014, particularly concerning its currency at the time of invitation.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the timing of the skills assessment. The applicant initially claimed to have a skills assessment issued by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) on 12 November 2014. However, the Department later received a skills assessment dated 28 August 2015 from VETASSESS on behalf of TRA. The Department correctly advised the applicant that this later assessment did not meet the visa requirements as it was obtained after the invitation to apply. Subsequently, the applicant's representative admitted that the applicant did not hold a relevant skills assessment dated prior to the invitation. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant failed to satisfy clause 189.212(1)(a) of the Regulations.

As the applicant did not meet the essential criteria for the grant of the visa, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Subclass 189 visa.