Araque (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa in the Graduate Work stream. The central dispute concerned whether the applicant had satisfied the primary criteria for this visa, specifically regarding the requirement to submit evidence of a skills assessment for their nominated occupation at the time of application.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the requirements of clause 485.223 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause mandates that a visa application for the Graduate Work stream must be accompanied by evidence that the applicant had applied for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority for their nominated skilled occupation. The applicant had nominated Software Engineer, for which the Australian Computer Society (ACS) is the relevant assessing authority.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not submitted evidence of applying for a skills assessment with their visa application. In response to the relevant question on the application form, the applicant had indicated "no." The applicant later claimed they intended to apply for the Post-Study Work stream and were unaware of the two different streams, believing they met all criteria for the post-study option. However, the Tribunal concluded that, based on the evidence presented at the time of application, the applicant did not satisfy clause 485.223. Despite this, the Tribunal found that the applicant met the requirements of clause 485.231. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant meets the criteria specified in clause 485.231.