Hassan (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of an applicant seeking an Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, specifically the Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme, Temporary Residence Transition stream. The central dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the requirement for "Competent English" as stipulated by the relevant regulations.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied Regulation 1.15C concerning "Competent English" at the time of their visa application. This involved assessing whether the applicant had undertaken a specified language test within the three years preceding the application and achieved the required score, or held a specified passport, as outlined in legislative Instrument IMMI15/005.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's Master's Degree from Bangladesh did not constitute a test of English skills as defined by the relevant instrument. While the applicant presented two Pearson (PTE) English language tests, both were taken after the visa application date. The first test, taken on 24 January 2019, did not achieve the minimum score of 50 in each of the four components. A subsequent PTE test, taken on 23 March 2023, also failed to meet the required score in the Listening component. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not met the criteria for "Competent English" at the time of their application. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.