Cumaranayagam (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, subclass 485, Graduate Work stream, made by Ms. Cumaranayagam. The applicant nominated the occupation of Telecommunications Network Engineer. The core dispute before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met the criteria for this visa, specifically concerning the assessment of her skills for the nominated occupation.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether the applicant had satisfied clause 485.223 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause requires that, at the time of visa application, the applicant must provide evidence of having applied for a skills assessment for their nominated occupation by a relevant assessing authority. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's obligation to provide sufficient material to enable the decision-maker to establish the relevant facts, noting that the Tribunal is not required to fill gaps in an applicant's case.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had nominated Telecommunications Network Engineer as her skilled occupation, with Engineers Australia identified as the relevant assessing authority. While the applicant provided a receipt dated 13 August 2017 indicating she had applied for a skills assessment, the Tribunal found that this receipt did not specify the occupation for which the assessment was sought. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that she had applied for a skills assessment for the nominated occupation of Telecommunications Network Engineer as required by clause 485.223.

Based on these findings, the Tribunal determined that the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 485 visa. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, meaning the applicant was not granted the visa.