Hossain v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services & Multicultural Affairs

This matter concerned an application for judicial review under s 476 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal). The Tribunal had affirmed the delegate of the Minister's decision not to grant the applicants Regional Employer (subclass 187) visas. The applicants, citizens of Bangladesh, had applied for these visas on the basis of the first applicant's proposed employment as a Café or Restaurant Manager with Aus Bangla International Pty Ltd in Tasmania.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the Tribunal erred in its decision-making process. Specifically, the applicants contended that the Tribunal made different findings to the delegate regarding Public Interest Criteria (PIC) 4020 and that the Tribunal should have remitted the matter back to the delegate. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the first applicant had provided a bogus document or false or misleading information in relation to his visa application, which would render him unable to satisfy PIC 4020.

The Court considered the Tribunal's findings, which noted that the applicant did not meet cl.187.233, and therefore did not satisfy the primary criteria for the visa. Despite this, the Tribunal reviewed the delegate's decision concerning PIC 4020 at the applicant's request. The Tribunal ultimately found that the applicant had not provided a bogus document or false or misleading information relating to his visa application. However, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the visas, albeit for reasons different to the delegate, concluding that the essential criteria for the visa were not met. The Court found that jurisdictional error had not been established.

The Amended Application filed on 7 February 2020 was dismissed by the Court.