Mankanwar Preet Singh (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review by Mankanwar Preet Singh regarding a Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme). The review was heard by Member Antonio Dronjic of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant possessed "competent English" at the time of their visa application, as required by the relevant legislative provisions. This involved determining if the applicant had undertaken a specified language test within the preceding three years and achieved the required score, or if they held a specified passport.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's IELTS test results from 25 October 2015, which indicated scores of Listening 7.0, Reading 6.0, Writing 6.0, and Speaking 7.0. The Tribunal was satisfied that this test was specified by the Minister and had been conducted within the three years immediately preceding the date of invitation. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant met the definition of having competent English at the time of their application on 9 November 2016, and therefore satisfied criterion cl.187.232 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

The Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with the direction that the applicant meets the English language proficiency criteria for the Subclass 187 visa.