Migration Law Consultants Pty Ltd (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by Migration Law Consultants Pty Ltd (the applicant) for approval of a nominated position. The applicant sought review of the Department's decision to refuse its nomination. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for approval of the nomination under section 140GB(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and regulation 2.72 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was an approved sponsor or party to a work agreement, and whether there was any adverse information known to Immigration concerning the applicant or associated persons that could not be disregarded. The Tribunal also considered whether the applicant had been afforded a fair opportunity to provide necessary information to satisfy the criteria.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant's approval as a standard business sponsor had ceased on 24 March 2018, and there was no evidence of it being a party to a work agreement. Furthermore, while allegations of contravening migration laws had been made against the applicant, these occurred more than three years prior to the decision, meaning they did not constitute adverse information for the purposes of regulation 2.72(9). However, the applicant had failed to provide requested updated information by the stipulated deadline, despite being aware of the reasons for the initial refusal for over two years. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not demonstrated it met the criteria under regulation 2.72(4) and had not provided sufficient information to satisfy the Tribunal.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the nomination.