Matcha (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for an Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, Subclass 186, under the temporary residence transition stream. The applicant sought review of a decision to affirm the refusal of her visa application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the criteria for the Subclass 186 visa, specifically clause 186.223, which requires, among other things, that the position nominated by the employer has been approved and has not been withdrawn, and that the visa application was made within six months of the nomination approval.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's evidence that she had been nominated for the visa in June 2017, but her employer's nomination application was refused on 4 September 2018. The applicant stated she was overseas at the time of the refusal and was not notified of the outcome until her return to Australia in October 2019, by which time the period for seeking a review of the nomination refusal had expired. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had left her employment when her previous visa expired in October 2018, and that the employer had not provided reasons for the nomination refusal or the lack of review. The Tribunal concluded that as the nomination had been refused and no application for review had been made, the criterion that the nomination must have been approved and not subsequently withdrawn had not been met.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant the Subclass 186 visa, as the essential requirements for the temporary residence transition stream had not been satisfied.