CHHETRI KARKI (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicants, Chhetri Karki, against a decision by a delegate of the Minister to refuse their applications for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa. The appeal was heard by Karen McNamara.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants had met the requirements of clause 485.215 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause stipulates that when a visa application is made, it must be accompanied by evidence of adequate arrangements for health insurance in Australia, and that the applicant must have maintained such arrangements since the application was lodged.

The Tribunal noted that the visa application form indicated "yes" to holding health insurance. However, the application lodged on 18 April 2017 did not include evidence of health insurance. The delegate subsequently requested this evidence on 18 May 2017, and as of 16 June 2017, no response or indication of compliance had been received, leading to the refusal. While the Tribunal accepted that the applicants had held various health insurance policies, including one with NIB valid until 30 June 2017 and subsequent policies with iman Australian Health Plans from 1 April 2017 and 19 May 2017, it found no financial evidence supporting payment for the earliest iman policy (commencing 29 September 2016). Despite this, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicants had continued to maintain adequate health insurance from 23 May 2017 onwards, satisfying subclause 485.215(2). However, the critical failure was the lack of evidence accompanying the initial application, as required by subclause 485.215(1).

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicants did not satisfy the criteria for the grant of the visa. The decision under review was affirmed.