F.S SANTUCCI & A VISANI (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for approval of a nomination for a Subclass 186 visa in the Temporary Residence Transition Stream, lodged by F.S Santucci & A Visani, seeking to sponsor Mr Steven Cairney for the position of hairdresser. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether the nominator, F.S Santucci & A Visani, met the requirements of Regulation 5.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether F.S Santucci & A Visani was actively and lawfully operating a business in Australia, as required by Regulation 5.19(5)(h)(ii), and whether it met the other general and stream-specific requirements for nomination approval. Specifically, the Department had raised concerns regarding the cancellation of the business name, the cessation of the ABN and GST registration for the partnership, and the subsequent transition to a company structure.

The Tribunal found that while F.S Santucci & A Visani was initially approved as a standard business sponsor and nominator, its business structure and registrations had changed. The partnership's ABN was cancelled, and it ceased to be registered for GST. Although a new company, Access Hair Pty Ltd, was formed and registered for GST and PAYG, it was a separate legal entity from the partnership. The Tribunal noted that the partnership was later reinstated, but without GST registration and with no evidence of operating the business. Crucially, Regulation 5.19(5)(h)(i) requires the nominator to have been the standard business sponsor who last identified the nominee in an approved nomination, and the evidence indicated that Access Hair Pty Ltd, not the partnership, was the entity employing Mr Cairney at the time of the nomination.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that F.S Santucci & A Visani met the requirements of Regulation 5.19. Therefore, pursuant to Regulation 5.19(3)(b), the nomination was refused, and the decision under review was affirmed.