Gurpreet Singh (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Gurpreet Singh, who sought review of a decision not to grant him an Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, specifically under the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the Subclass 186 visa. The central dispute concerned whether Mr. Singh met the English language proficiency requirements for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant had demonstrated the required level of English language proficiency. This involved assessing whether he met the definition of "vocational English" or qualified for an exemption based on his prior study. The Tribunal had to consider the specific legislative instruments and regulations governing these requirements, particularly the definition of vocational English and the criteria for exemption based on undertaking a minimum of five years of full-time study in English.

The Tribunal reasoned that for visa applications made before 1 July 2017, vocational English was required. While the applicant claimed an exemption based on completing at least five years of full-time study in English, the Tribunal found that his claimed study period included incomplete courses and English language study itself. The Tribunal held that incomplete study could not be counted towards the five-year minimum, and that dedicated English language study did not constitute study at a secondary or higher education level delivered in English for the purpose of the exemption. Consequently, the applicant had not met the five-year study requirement for the exemption.

As the applicant had not met the English language criteria for the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the Subclass 186 visa, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.