Harrison (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, Mr Luke Harrison, against a decision not to grant him and his de facto partner, Miss Gabriela Alexandra Perez Jaimes, Skilled Nominated (Permanent) visas (subclass 190). The primary dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the points test criterion for the visa, specifically in relation to his nominated occupation of Program or Project Administrator. The decision was made by the Tribunal, presided over by Member Karen McNamara.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied the points test criterion, which required his assessed score to be not less than the score stated in the invitation to apply for the visa and not less than the 'qualifying score'. This involved assessing the applicant's qualifications and points as prescribed in Schedule 6D to the Migration Regulations 1994, and considering the applicable pass mark under sections 94 and 96 of the Migration Act 1958. The Tribunal was also required to apply the law in force at the time of the original delegate's assessment and at the time of the Tribunal's own assessment, adopting whichever was more favourable to the applicant, pursuant to sections 93 and 350 of the Act.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's eligibility for points under the age criterion (Part 6D.1) was satisfied, as he was 32 years old at the time of invitation, entitling him to 30 points. However, the provided text does not detail the full assessment of all points-related criteria or the final score. The decision ultimately affirmed the original decision not to grant the visa, finding that the first named applicant did not meet the prescribed criteria. Consequently, as the de facto partner, the second named applicant was also unable to satisfy the criteria for the visa class, specifically clause 190.311 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994.