Ismail (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant seeking a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Graduate Work stream, Subclass 485. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the primary criteria for this visa, specifically concerning a skills assessment for their nominated occupation.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements of clause 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause mandates that an applicant's skills for their nominated skilled occupation must have been assessed as suitable by a relevant assessing authority within the preceding three years, and that any validity period for such an assessment must not have expired. The Tribunal also considered the definition of a "skilled occupation" and a "relevant assessing authority" as stipulated by the Regulations and relevant legislative instruments.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had nominated the occupation of Welfare Centre Manager and had applied for a skills assessment with the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA). However, the evidence indicated that this skills assessment application was unsuccessful, as the applicant lacked the requisite language skills and experience for the nominated occupation. The applicant's submission that they needed further experience to obtain a suitable assessment did not alter the fact that, at the time of the decision, they had not met the criterion. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not satisfy the primary criteria for the visa.

As the applicant failed to meet the primary criteria, the Tribunal also found that any secondary applicants, who were required to be members of the family unit of a primary visa holder, also did not satisfy the criteria for the Subclass 485 visa. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visas to the applicants.