Harjit Singh (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Harjit Singh regarding a Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, specifically under the Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) Direct Entry stream. The core dispute revolved around the approval of the nominated position, which had initially been refused by a delegate but was subsequently approved by the Tribunal.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had been nominated for an approved position and whether the applicant met the legislative requirements for employment in that nominated position. This involved assessing whether the nominated position met the criteria outlined in cl.187.233 of the Regulations, including requirements relating to the nominating employer, the approval of the nomination, the availability of the position, and the timing of the visa application relative to the nomination approval.

The Tribunal considered evidence regarding the nominating sponsor's business, Mac's Irish Pub, Kilmore, detailing its operational capacity, customer base, and staffing structure, which included two chefs and one cook. The Tribunal found that the size and scale of the business supported the employment of a cook in addition to the supervisory chefs. Furthermore, the business demonstrated financial viability with a net profit of $157,371 in the 2016-17 financial year and sound future projections.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration. The direction was that the first applicant met specific criteria (cl.187.223) for the Subclass 187 visa, and the other applicants met different criteria (cl.187.311) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.