Chopra (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the application of Mr. Chopra for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, specifically the Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa under the Post-Study Work stream. The dispute arose from the refusal of his visa application by the Department of Home Affairs, which found that he did not meet the Australian study requirement.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr. Chopra satisfied the requirements of clause 485.231 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause mandates that for the Post-Study Work stream, an applicant must have completed an eligible qualification (Bachelor degree or higher) within the six months immediately preceding the date of application. The Tribunal also had to consider whether Mr. Chopra could satisfy the requirements of the Graduate Work stream, which has different eligibility criteria.

The Tribunal reasoned that Mr. Chopra's Master of International Business, completed on 7 December 2015, was undertaken more than 12 months before his application on 20 January 2017, thus failing to meet the six-month timeframe. While he also provided evidence of completing a Graduate Diploma of Accounting on 7 November 2016, which was within the six-month period, a Graduate Diploma is not an eligible qualification for the Post-Study Work stream. The Tribunal noted that although it had sympathy for Mr. Chopra's claim of being misled by an unregistered migration agent, this was not a relevant consideration for determining visa eligibility. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that it was not possible to switch from the Post-Study Work stream to the Graduate Work stream after the application was lodged, due to the latter's requirement for a nominated skilled occupation and skills assessment.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse the visa application.