BJ'S CORNER BAR PTY LTD (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered a case involving BJ's Corner Bar Pty Ltd, which sought to have a nomination for a skilled visa approved. The dispute centred on the refusal of this nomination, specifically under the Direct Entry stream for the occupation of Conference and Event Organiser. The Tribunal was tasked with determining whether the applicant met the criteria for approval of the nomination.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the nominated occupation and its associated conditions satisfied the requirements of regulation 2.72 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This included assessing whether the nominated position met the applicability conditions specified in IMMI 17/060, which applied to nominations made on or after 1 July 2017. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider whether the nominated base salary was at least AUD65,000 and whether the business had an annual turnover of at least AUD1 million, as these were conditions attached to the occupation of Conference and Event Organiser in the relevant instrument.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's failure to provide current information to demonstrate compliance with the nomination criteria. While the occupation of Conference and Event Organiser was listed in IMMI 17/060, it was subject to inapplicability conditions. The nomination indicated a base salary of $55,000, which did not meet the minimum requirement of $65,000. Furthermore, no current evidence was provided to establish that the business had an annual turnover of at least $1 million. As the applicant did not provide the requested current information to satisfy these conditions, the Tribunal was unable to be satisfied that the requirements of regulation 2.72(10)(aa) were met.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the nomination.