Owen (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse to grant Training (Class GF) visas to Ms Eleanor Jayne Owen and Mr Guy William Hibberd French. The applicant, Ms Owen, held a Bachelor of Science degree and was a citizen of the United Kingdom. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the applicant had an approved sponsor for the training proposed in support of her Subclass 407 visa application.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine if the applicant satisfied the criteria for a Subclass 407 visa, specifically whether the nominated position for which she applied was the subject of an approved nomination. The Tribunal had received information indicating that the nominator, DEFINITIVE EVENTS PTY LTD, had its application for approval of the nominated position refused, and a subsequent review of that refusal was also affirmed by the AAT. This meant the nominator's application for the nominated position had not been approved.

The Tribunal reasoned that a fundamental requirement for the grant of a Subclass 407 visa is that the position specified in the visa application must be the subject of an approved nomination. As the nominator's application for approval of the nominated position had been refused and this refusal was affirmed, the Tribunal concluded that the position specified in Ms Owen's visa application was not the subject of an approved nomination. Consequently, Ms Owen did not satisfy this essential requirement for the grant of the visa. Although evidence was provided that the applicant was pursuing a 494 Regional Sponsored Visa, the Tribunal noted that no claims had been made in respect of other visa streams, and the requirements for the 407 Training visa stream had not been met.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants a Training (Class GF) visa.