1603290 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) considered a dispute concerning a visa application. The applicant sought review of a decision that they did not meet the requirements for a visa under clause 189.212 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied the requirements of clause 189.212(1)(a) and, by extension, clause 189.212 as a whole, in relation to the timing of their skills assessment. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the skills assessment was obtained prior to the applicant being invited to apply for the visa.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's skills assessment was dated 12 February 2016, which was after the applicant received an invitation to apply for the visa on 22 January 2016. Applying the plain wording of the regulations, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant therefore did not meet the specified criteria. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the original decision under review.