Nandigama (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an appeal by Ms. Nandigama against a decision to refuse her application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, specifically the Post-Study Work stream of the Subclass 485 visa. The core of the dispute concerned whether Ms. Nandigama met the Australian study requirement for the visa.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Ms. Nandigama satisfied the criteria for the Subclass 485 visa, particularly clause 485.231, which mandates that an applicant must hold a specified qualification awarded by a specified educational institution and have met the Australian study requirement within the six months immediately preceding the visa application. The key legal issue was whether the applicant's completion of her Master of Information Technology degree, awarded by Charles Sturt University, met the temporal requirement of the Australian study requirement.

The Tribunal found that while Ms. Nandigama held a specified qualification (Master of Information Technology) conferred by a specified educational institution (Charles Sturt University), she failed to satisfy the Australian study requirement. This requirement, as defined by regulation 1.15F(1), necessitates that the study be completed within the six months immediately before the visa application was lodged. Evidence indicated that Ms. Nandigama's qualification was completed on 21 June 2019, which was more than six months prior to her visa application.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that Ms. Nandigama did not meet the criteria for the grant of a Subclass 485 visa. The decision under review, which affirmed the refusal of the visa, was therefore affirmed by the Tribunal.