Oladejo (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa application, Subclass 485, Graduate Work stream, made by the applicant. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had met the requirements for this visa stream, specifically concerning a mandatory skills assessment.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 485.223 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires evidence of an application for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority at the time of visa lodgement. A secondary issue was whether the applicant's stated intention to apply under the Post-Study Work stream, rather than the Graduate Work stream, constituted an honest mistake that might allow for consideration under alternate criteria.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had not provided evidence of a skills assessment application for their nominated occupation, "Systems Analyst," with the Australian Computer Society, the relevant assessing authority. This meant the applicant did not meet the requirements of clause 485.223. However, the Tribunal accepted the applicant's submission that they had mistakenly applied for the Graduate Work stream when they intended to apply for the Post-Study Work stream, for which a skills assessment was not a prerequisite. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant met the criteria for the Post-Study Work stream, specifically clause 485.231(1).

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant meets the criteria under clause 485.231(1) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.