Ndebele (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate), against a decision not to grant the visa. The appeal was heard by the Tribunal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 485.212 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause requires that an application for a Subclass 485 visa be accompanied by evidence of either holding a specified passport or having undertaken a specified language test within a defined period and achieving a specified score.

The Tribunal found that the applicant did not hold a passport of the type specified in the relevant instrument, IMMI 15/062. Therefore, the applicant had to satisfy clause 485.212(a), which requires evidence of a completed English language test. The Tribunal noted that IMMI 15/062 specifies that such tests must have been undertaken within the three years immediately preceding the date of the visa application, which was 14 February 2018. The applicant acknowledged that she had not realised this requirement and had undertaken an IELTS test on 3 March 2018, after the application date, although she achieved a score of 8.5. The Tribunal concluded that as the test was not undertaken within the specified three-year period before the application, clause 485.212(a) was not met.

Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant met the primary criteria for the grant of the visa. As a result, the secondary applicant also failed to meet the relevant criteria. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visas to the applicants.