Duong (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa, in the Graduate Work stream. The applicant sought to satisfy the primary criteria for this visa, specifically clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which relate to the applicant's skills in their nominated occupation. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had met these requirements.

The Tribunal was required to determine two key legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant had applied for a relevant skills assessment at the time of lodging their visa application, as required by clause 485.223. This involved considering whether evidence of an application to a 'relevant assessing authority' for a 'skilled occupation' was provided. Secondly, the Tribunal had to determine whether the applicant's skills had been assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by a relevant assessing authority within the preceding three years, and if any validity period for that assessment had expired, as stipulated by clause 485.224.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had satisfied both criteria. Evidence before the Tribunal indicated that the applicant had applied to the Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) for a skills assessment for the nominated occupation of Chef on 4 April 2017, which accompanied their visa application. This fulfilled the requirements of clause 485.223. Furthermore, the applicant had subsequently provided a skills assessment issued by TRA on 10 October 2017, which verified their suitability for the nominated occupation of Chef (and Cook). The Tribunal independently confirmed the genuineness and validity of this assessment, which had been issued within the last three years and had no specified expiry date, thus meeting the requirements of clause 485.224.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant met the criteria under clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.