Kalansooriya Arachchige (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a Subclass 407 (Training) visa. The applicants sought review of a decision not to grant them this visa. The core of the dispute revolved around the absence of an approved nomination by a training and research sponsor, which is a prerequisite for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants could be granted a Subclass 407 visa given that the nominator's application for approval had been refused, and this refusal had been affirmed on review by the AAT. The Tribunal was also required to consider the secondary applicant's eligibility, as she was not a family member of the primary applicant and did not appear to meet the primary criteria independently.

The Tribunal reasoned that a requirement for the grant of a Subclass 407 visa is that the nominated position must be the subject of an approved nomination. As the nominator's application had been refused and this decision affirmed, there was no approved nomination. The applicants, through their representative, conceded that they understood the application could not succeed due to the lack of an approved nomination. While the applicants sought a stay to finalise requirements for a Subclass 186 visa, the Tribunal noted it was not empowered to grant such stays, being obliged to make decisions that are fair, just, economical, and quick. Furthermore, the Tribunal found that the secondary applicant did not meet the criteria for the visa in her own right.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decisions not to grant the Subclass 407 visas to the applicants.