Al Arab (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, subclass 457, for a customer service manager. The Department had refused the visa application on the basis that the applicant was not subject to an approved nomination. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the requirements of clause 457.223(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the nominated occupation, customer service manager, met the criteria specified in IMMI 17/060, which had been updated and applied to nominations not finally determined before 1 July 2017. This instrument imposed three conditions on the occupation: a minimum base salary of AUD $65,000, that the position not be based in a front-line retail setting or predominantly involve direct client transactional interaction, and that the business have an annual turnover of at least AUD $1,000,000.

The Tribunal found that while the business's annual turnover exceeded $1,000,000, satisfying one condition, the applicant's proposed salary had fluctuated from $60,000 to $62,000, and finally to $65,000 in a new contract dated 21 August 2017. This latest contract met the salary requirement. However, the Tribunal did not accept the applicant's assertion that the position was not in a front-line retail setting or did not involve direct client transactional interaction. Evidence indicated the position was in a busy retail store located in a shopping complex, with other customer service representatives employed, and the applicant himself described the store as having "high traffic." Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the requirements for the standard business sponsor stream had not been met.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa applicant a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, subclass 457. No claims were made, nor was there evidence presented, to satisfy the criteria for any other visa streams.