Gonzales (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking an Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, specifically under the Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) Direct Entry stream. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the age requirements for this visa subclass.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied the age criteria stipulated by cl.186.231 of the relevant legislative instrument, IMMI 17/058, for applications made before 1 July 2017. This required the applicant to be under 50 years of age at the time of application, unless they fell within a specified exempt class of persons.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant, who was 52 years old at the time of application, did not meet the age requirement. His nominated occupation of Minister of Religion was not listed as an exempt occupation, nor did he hold a visa specific to New Zealand citizens. Although the applicant sought a delay pending the outcome of a separate labour agreement nomination application, the Tribunal noted this would not impact the current visa application. Consequently, as the applicant failed to meet the age criterion and was not within an exempt class, the Tribunal found that cl.186.231 was not satisfied.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants the Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visas, as the requirements for the Direct Entry stream had not been met.