Matavola (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Temporary Skill Shortage (Class GK) visa (Subclass 482) in its medium-term stream. The primary applicant, Mr Gabirieli Waqavanua, sought this visa, with his wife and children applying as secondary applicants. The dispute arose because the primary applicant had resigned from his employment before the nominated position was approved.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants satisfied the requirements of clause 482.312 of Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the nomination for the primary applicant's position met the criteria outlined in clause 482.212(1), which requires the nomination to have been approved and not to have ceased.

The Tribunal reasoned that clause 482.212(1) mandates that a nomination identified in a visa application must be approved and must not have ceased. In this instance, Mr Waqavanua resigned from his employment with Peak Air on 19 February 2021, which was prior to the nominated position receiving approval from the Minister. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicants could not be classified as family members of a holder of a Subclass 482 visa, as the prerequisite nomination approval had not been validly obtained.

For these reasons, the Tribunal concluded that the requirements of clause 482.312 were not met. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Temporary Skill Shortage (Class GK) visas to the applicants.