Akhter v Minister for Immigration

This matter concerned an application for judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) to refuse the applicant, Mr Akhter, skilled residence visas. The primary ground for refusal by the MRT was the applicant's alleged failure to demonstrate English language competency as required by the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the MRT had misconstrued the relevant provisions of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) concerning the demonstration of "competent English," or alternatively, whether those Regulations themselves were invalid.

Justice Driver found that the MRT had correctly interpreted and applied the relevant regulations. The Court held that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to satisfy the requirements of the regulations regarding English language proficiency. Consequently, the Court determined that the applicant had not established that the MRT's decision was affected by an error of law.

The application, as amended on 25 November 2014, was dismissed.