Jayamanna Mohottige Dona (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the application of Jayamanna Mohottige Dona for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, specifically under the Graduate Work stream of the Subclass 485 visa. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had satisfied the skills assessment requirement for their nominated occupation.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant met criterion 485.224(1) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires a skills assessment by a relevant authority as suitable for the nominated occupation within the last three years, and that such assessment had not expired. The applicant had nominated the occupation of Chef and initially failed to provide a skills assessment to the delegate within the requested timeframe, leading to a refusal.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the applicant initially failed to provide the required documentation to the delegate, they subsequently submitted a successful skills assessment issued by the Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) for the occupation of Chef on 6 November 2019. TRA confirmed the validity of this assessment. The Tribunal was satisfied that this assessment met the requirements of clause 485.224(1) as it was issued within the last three years and was valid. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met this specific criterion.