Quarantine Investment Co Pty Ltd (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Quarantine Investment Co Pty Ltd against a decision to refuse a nomination for a visa subclass 186 under the Direct Entry stream. The applicant sought to nominate Ms Anna Marie Justimbaste for the position of Cook. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the applicant met the requirements of regulation 5.19(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically concerning the active operation of a business and the terms of employment for the nominee.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant had provided sufficient evidence to satisfy the requirements of regulation 5.19(4)(b), which mandates that the nominator be actively and lawfully operating a business in Australia, and regulation 5.19(4)(d)(i), which requires the nominee to be employed full-time for at least two years. The Tribunal had invited the applicant to provide updated financial information, including tax returns and BAS statements, to demonstrate these requirements.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's failure to provide the requested updated information within the prescribed period. Citing sections 359(2), 359C, and 360(3) of the Migration Act 1958, the Tribunal noted that the applicant was not entitled to appear before it and that it could only consider the evidence before it. As the provided documentation was scant and several years out of date, the Tribunal concluded it could not be satisfied that the applicant was actively operating a business or had the financial capacity to employ the nominee for the required period. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the nomination.