Avila Borja (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review by Mr Avila Borja before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The dispute centred on whether Mr Avila Borja met the English language proficiency requirements for a Temporary Skill Shortage (Class GK) (Subclass 482) visa, specifically within the Medium-term stream.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr Avila Borja satisfied clause 482.232 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which outlines the English language criteria for this visa stream. This clause, read in conjunction with the relevant legislative instrument IMMI 18/032, specified minimum score requirements for a Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, including an overall band score of at least 36 and a score of at least 36 for each test component.

The Tribunal considered a PTE Academic score report dated 16 August 2019, which indicated Mr Avila Borja achieved an overall score of 39 and component scores of 39 for Listening, 40 for Reading, 36 for Speaking, and 42 for Writing. Having independently verified these results, the Tribunal was satisfied that Mr Avila Borja had met the minimum specified scores. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant meets the English language criteria under clause 482.232.