Nguyen (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms. Nguyen against the decision not to grant her a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, specifically a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa. The core dispute revolved around whether Ms. Nguyen satisfied the Australian study requirement within the six months immediately preceding her visa application. The decision was made by Mary Sheargold of the Tribunal.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms. Nguyen met the Australian study requirement as stipulated by clause 485.231(3) of the Migration Regulations. This requirement mandates that an applicant must have completed their specified qualification(s) within the six months prior to lodging their visa application. The Tribunal was required to determine if Ms. Nguyen's completion of her Master of Clinical Psychology degree on 28 February 2019, and her Bachelor of Applied Science (Psychology) (Honours) in 2016, satisfied this specific timeframe.

The Tribunal reasoned that the requirement in clause 485.231(3) was prescriptive and did not allow for discretion. Ms. Nguyen had applied for the visa on 24 February 2019, and while she had completed her final assessments for her Master's degree prior to this date, the official completion notification from RMIT University was dated 28 February 2019. The Tribunal noted that Ms. Nguyen accepted this date as true and conceded that she had not completed any other qualifications within the six months immediately before her application. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.