Jafri (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate), against a decision to affirm the refusal of their visa application. The appeal was heard by the Tribunal, with Member Roslyn Smidt presiding.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 485.212 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause requires that an application for a Subclass 485 visa be accompanied by evidence of either holding a specified passport or having undertaken an approved English language test within a prescribed period and achieving a specified score. The relevant instrument, IMMI 15/062, stipulated that the language test must have been undertaken within the 36 months prior to the date of the visa application.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had not provided evidence of holding a specified passport, thus clause 485.212(b) was not met. Regarding clause 485.212(a), the applicant had initially claimed to have taken an IELTS test on 22 November 2014, which the delegate found to be outside the 36-month period preceding the visa application. Although the applicant later provided a Pearson Test of Academic English report dated 18 July 2019, this test was also undertaken after the visa application was lodged. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not satisfactorily completed an approved English language test within the required 36-month period prior to lodging the application.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant did not meet the requirements of clause 485.212 and therefore did not satisfy the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 485 visa. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the visa.