Austin (Migration)

The applicant, Austin, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse to grant a Subclass 402 (Training and Research) visa under the Occupational Trainee stream. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicant was the subject of a current nomination at the time the visa subclass closed to new applications.

The Federal Circuit Court was required to determine whether the applicant's nomination for the Subclass 402 visa was valid and current at the relevant time, specifically whether the nomination had been lodged before the subclass closed and whether the applicant was the subject of a current nomination as required by the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth).

Justice Synon found that the nomination for the applicant's Subclass 402 visa had not been lodged prior to the closure of the visa subclass to new applications. Consequently, the applicant was not the subject of a current nomination at the time the visa subclass closed. The Court applied the principles of administrative law, focusing on the requirements of the *Migration Regulations* and the evidence before the Minister.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.