ANW GROUP PTY LTD (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, with Member Katie Malyon presiding, considered a dispute concerning the refusal of a nomination for a Transport Company Manager position under the Direct Entry stream. The applicant, ANW GROUP PTY LTD, sought approval for its nomination of Mr. Bhullar, but the Department had refused this nomination.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether ANW GROUP PTY LTD met the requirements for approval of the nomination under regulation 5.19(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the company had demonstrated that Mr. Bhullar would be employed full-time in the nominated position for at least two years, as required by regulation 5.19(4)(d)(i). This involved assessing whether the company possessed the financial capacity to meet the projected wages for the nominee over the specified period.

The Tribunal reasoned that to satisfy regulation 5.19(4)(d)(i), it was open to consider the company's financial resources, citing precedents such as *Jayshree Enterprises Pty Ltd v MIBP* [2017] FCA 264 and *Gohil v MIBP* [2016] FCCA 2825. The Tribunal had requested ANW GROUP PTY LTD to provide information demonstrating its financial capacity to employ Mr. Bhullar at the contracted salary of $62,400 per annum plus superannuation for at least two years. However, the company failed to provide this requested information within the prescribed period and did not seek an extension. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded it lacked evidence to be satisfied of the company's financial capacity to meet the wage costs for the proposed employment.

As ANW GROUP PTY LTD had not satisfied the requirements of regulation 5.19(4)(d)(i), the Tribunal found that the company did not meet the criteria for the Direct Entry stream. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the nomination.