Nasir (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review concerning a Skilled Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa (Subclass 489). The dispute arose because the review application was lodged by the primary visa applicant, rather than the eligible sponsor or nominator as required by the relevant regulations.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to hear the review application. This depended on whether the application had been made by a person authorised to seek review under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and its associated Regulations. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant was a party permitted to make a review application under section 338(9) of the Act and regulation 4.02(4)(la) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal reasoned that decisions of the kind under review, relating to a Skilled Regional Sponsored visa where a government agency acts as the nominator, can only have their review applications made by the nominator. This is stipulated by regulations 4.02(4)(la) and 4.02(5)(ka). As the review application in this instance was filed by the primary visa applicant, it did not meet the requirements of section 347 of the Act. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to proceed with the review.