Golar (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485, in the Graduate Work stream. The applicant, a national of India, sought to satisfy the criteria for this visa by demonstrating completion of several Australian qualifications. The central dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the 'Australian study requirement' as stipulated by clause 485.221 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which mandates satisfaction of this requirement in the six months immediately preceding the visa application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the precise completion date of the applicant's Diploma of Business course. The applicant had provided conflicting information regarding this date, initially claiming completion in mid-March 2018, but lacking documentary evidence. The Tribunal, in its efforts to ascertain the correct completion date, contacted the educational institution, Australian Careers Education Pty Ltd, which confirmed the course completion date as 2 May 2018.

The Tribunal reasoned that it was obliged to accept the evidence provided by the educational institution. It further clarified that, in accordance with Federal Court precedent, a course is considered complete when all formal academic requirements, including examinations and marking, have been fulfilled, rather than the administrative act of formal confirmation. Despite being prepared to allow the applicant further time to produce additional evidence, the applicant's representative sought to rely on the applicant's oral evidence of an earlier completion date. The Tribunal ultimately affirmed the decision not to grant the visa, as the applicant failed to satisfy the criteria.