1607695 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application by Ms Chen for review of a decision regarding her Subclass 485 visa in the Graduate Work stream. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was tasked with determining whether Ms Chen met the primary criteria for this visa, specifically those relating to skills assessment for her nominated occupation.

The central legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Chen had satisfied the requirements of clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. Clause 485.223 mandates that a visa application must be accompanied by evidence of an application for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority for the nominated skilled occupation. The definition of a "skilled occupation" and a "relevant assessing authority" were also relevant considerations.

The Tribunal found that Ms Chen had nominated the occupation of Accountant (General), which is a specified skilled occupation. For this occupation, the relevant assessing authorities are CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, or the Institute of Public Accountants. While Ms Chen indicated on her application that she would lodge a skills assessment with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, she answered "no" to having already applied for a skills assessment and provided no supporting evidence of such an application. At the hearing, Ms Chen admitted she had not applied for a skills assessment at the time of her visa application, attributing this to an honest mistake. She stated that she would have applied for the Post-study work stream, which does not require a skills assessment at the time of application, had she understood the visa streams. The Tribunal noted that applicants can only nominate one stream for a Subclass 485 visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.