Patel (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Mr Patel, who sought review of a decision to refuse his application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate). The dispute centred on whether Mr Patel had met the requirement for a skills assessment for his nominated occupation.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Patel had satisfied the requirements of cl.485.224(1) and cl.485.224(1A) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if Mr Patel’s skills for the nominated occupation of Chef had been assessed as suitable by the relevant assessing authority, Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), within the preceding three years and if that assessment remained valid.

The Tribunal reasoned that while Mr Patel had initially been unable to provide evidence of his skills assessment outcome to the Department before the visa refusal, TRA had made a favourable decision on the same day as the refusal. The Tribunal subsequently received and verified evidence of this assessment, which was completed on 18 September 2019 and was within the relevant three-year period. Finding no indication that the assessment's validity period had expired, the Tribunal concluded that Mr Patel now met the requirements of cl.485.224(1). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that Mr Patel satisfied this specific criterion.