NATIONAL CARE PLUS PTY LTD (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for review made by National Care Plus Pty Ltd concerning the approval of a nomination of position under the employer nomination scheme. The central dispute revolved around the payment of the prescribed application fee.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review was validly made, specifically whether it was accompanied by the prescribed fee at the time of lodgement and within the prescribed period. The Tribunal was required to determine if it possessed jurisdiction to hear the matter given the circumstances surrounding the fee payment.

The Tribunal reasoned that the application fee of $3,374.00, although initially deducted from the Tribunal's accounts, was subsequently returned to the applicant. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the application was not accompanied by the prescribed fee when it was made, nor was it made within the prescribed timeframe for payment. As no determination had been made or requested for a fee reduction, the Tribunal found that the prescribed fee had not been paid. This failure meant the application was not valid, and therefore, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to proceed.