Milanes v Minister for Immigration & Anor

Milanes (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) which affirmed the refusal of his skilled visa application. The Minister for Immigration and Anor (the respondent) was the other party. The matter came before Judge Cameron in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the definition of "competent English" as provided in the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth) was exhaustive, and consequently, whether a language test could be undertaken after the visa application had been lodged. Further, the Court was asked to consider whether certain regulatory provisions or instruments were invalid.

Judge Cameron reasoned that the definition of "competent English" in Regulation 1.15(1) of the *Migration Regulations 1994* was indeed exhaustive. His Honour found that the applicant had not met the requirements for competent English at the time of the visa application. Consequently, the Tribunal's decision was not affected by jurisdictional error. The application was dismissed.