AL JANNAH DA'WAH CENTRE (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by the Department of Immigration to refuse a nomination application made by Al Jannah Dawah Centre. The application was for a Subclass 401 (Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity)) visa, Religious Worker stream. The Centre sought to nominate an individual for this visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Al Jannah Dawah Centre met the criteria for approving a nomination, specifically in relation to the Subclass 401 visa. This involved considering the validity of the nomination application in light of the visa subclass's closure to new applications and whether any transitional provisions applied. The Tribunal also had to consider the evidence presented by the Centre regarding the proposed religious worker's role and the organisation's difficulties in sourcing local talent.

The Tribunal affirmed the Department's decision to refuse the nomination. The key reasoning was that the Subclass 401 visa had been repealed and closed to new applications on 19 November 2016, prior to the Department's refusal of the nomination on 13 December 2016. The Tribunal noted that the nomination application was made on 20 July 2016, and by the time of the refusal, the relevant visa subclass no longer existed. Despite the Centre's subsequent approval for a Subclass 403 nomination and its explanation of the proposed worker's role, the Tribunal found that these factors did not overcome the fundamental issue that the Subclass 401 visa was closed, and no applicable transitional provisions were available to the nominating organisation.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to approve the nomination.