Kudnok (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Kudnok against a decision not to grant her a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)). The dispute centred on whether Ms Kudnok qualified as a member of the family unit of the primary applicant, Mr Ngernyen, for the purposes of her visa application. The decision was made by the Tribunal.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms Kudnok met the criteria under clause 457.321 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which requires an applicant to be a member of the family unit of a person who holds a Subclass 457 visa and has satisfied the primary criteria for its grant. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if Mr Ngernyen, the primary applicant, was the holder of a Subclass 457 visa at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that Ms Kudnok's eligibility for a Subclass 457 visa was contingent on her being a member of the family unit of a current Subclass 457 visa holder. While Mr Ngernyen had initially held a Subclass 457 visa, it had ceased on 20 August 2020, and he subsequently obtained a Subclass 600 Visitor visa. The Tribunal notified Ms Kudnok of this fact and invited her to comment, but she did not respond. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that Ms Kudnok could not satisfy the requirement of being a member of the family unit of a person who still held a Subclass 457 visa. As this essential criterion was not met, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant Ms Kudnok the visa.