Momen v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

Street J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia heard a show cause hearing concerning a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Tribunal had affirmed a delegate's refusal to grant Employer Nomination (Subclass 186) Visas to the applicants, a husband and wife, on the basis that the first applicant, a citizen of Bangladesh, did not have an approved nomination as required by the Migration Regulations 1994.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the applicants had raised an arguable case for review of the Tribunal's decision. Specifically, the Court considered whether the applicants had provided any grounds for review in their originating application or subsequent submissions, despite being given an opportunity to amend their application and provide further evidence.

Street J reasoned that the Court's jurisdiction in this matter was limited to reviewing the legality of the Tribunal's decision, not to conduct a merits review or consider compassionate grounds. The Court noted that the applicants had failed to identify any grounds of alleged error by the Tribunal in their originating application. Despite being afforded an opportunity to rectify this deficiency, the applicants did not file an amended application, affidavit evidence, or submissions. Consequently, the Court was not satisfied that the application had raised an arguable case for the relief sought.

Accordingly, the Court exercised its powers under rule 44.12 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 and dismissed the application.