PAMIDIMALLA (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by Mr Neela Reddy Pamidimalla for a Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, specifically under the Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, Direct Entry stream. The core of the dispute was whether the applicant met the requirements for this visa subclass, particularly concerning an approved employer nomination.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 187.233(3) of the Migration Regulations, which mandates that the Minister must have approved the nomination for the position. This clause, along with others detailed in Attachment A, outlines several conditions for a valid nomination, including its location in regional Australia, its identification of the applicant (if nominated after 1 July 2017), and that the nominator is the prospective employer. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the applicant had provided any further information or comments in response to a notification that the employer nomination review had been affirmed.

The Tribunal's reasoning centred on the fact that the employer nomination had been refused and this decision was affirmed by the Tribunal on 20 May 2020, as the nominator failed to satisfy regulation 5.19(4). Consequently, there was no approved nomination in place. The applicant was invited to comment on this situation but provided no further information. As an approved nomination is a prerequisite for the grant of the visa under clause 187.233(3), and no such approval existed, the applicant did not meet this essential criterion.

Therefore, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant Mr Pamidimalla the Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, as the requirements for the Direct Entry stream had not been met.