Celaro (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Celaro, an applicant for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa in the Graduate Work stream. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had met the skills assessment requirements for his nominated occupation, Quantity Surveyor (ANZSCO 233213). The applicant had indicated "no" to having applied for a skills assessment on his visa application form, despite having lodged an application for assessment with the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) the day before submitting his visa application.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had satisfied clause 485.223 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which mandates that a visa application be accompanied by evidence of an application for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority for the nominated skilled occupation. It also needed to consider clause 485.224, which relates to the applicant being assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation. The Tribunal had to assess whether the applicant's erroneous "no" response on the visa application form was a genuine mistake and if he had, in fact, complied with the skills assessment requirement.

The Tribunal accepted the applicant's explanation that he had mistakenly indicated "no" to having applied for a skills assessment, finding that this was not an attempt to provide misleading information. Crucially, the applicant provided evidence that his application for a skills assessment with the AIQS was lodged on 4 July 2018, one day prior to his visa application lodged on 5 July 2018. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had satisfied clause 485.223.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant met the requirements of both clauses 485.223 and 485.224. The matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration of the remaining criteria for the Subclass 485 visa.