Maan (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485, in the Graduate Work stream, brought before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The applicant sought to satisfy the primary criteria for this visa, specifically clause 485.223 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which pertains to the applicant's skills in relation to their nominated skilled occupation.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had met the requirements of clause 485.223 at the time of lodging their visa application. This clause mandates that the application must be accompanied by evidence that the applicant had applied for a skills assessment for their nominated skilled occupation by a relevant assessing authority. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had indeed provided such evidence for their nominated occupation, Analyst Programmer ANZCO 261311, and if the nominated authority, the Australian Computer Society, was the correct assessing body.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had declared on their visa application form that they had not applied for a skills assessment with a relevant authority for their nominated occupation. The applicant explained that they had mistakenly selected the Graduate Work stream instead of the Post-Study Work stream, which did not require a skills assessment. However, the Tribunal noted that as the visa application was not accompanied by evidence of an application for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority, the applicant did not satisfy the requirements of clause 485.223. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the visa.