PASHAM (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of PASHAM, an applicant for a Subclass 186 Employer Nomination (Permanent) visa under the Temporary Residence Transition stream. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the primary criteria for the visa, specifically concerning an approved nomination by their employer.

The core legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was the subject of an approved nomination as required by clause 186.223 of the Migration Regulations. This clause mandates that the position to which the visa application relates must have an approved nomination that identifies the visa applicant, and that the nomination must not have been subsequently withdrawn. Further requirements include the absence of adverse information concerning the nominator or associated persons, the continued availability of the position, and that the visa application was made within six months of the nomination's approval.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's visa application could not succeed because the employer's nomination had been refused, and there was no pending review of that refusal. The Tribunal noted that lodging a new nomination application would not satisfy the criteria for the current visa application. Consequently, as the applicant had not satisfied the primary criteria of having an approved nomination, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa. The Tribunal concluded that the applicants were not members of the family unit of a primary applicant who held a Subclass 186 visa, as the primary applicant herself had not been granted the visa due to the lack of an approved nomination.