Rafique (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Skilled Independent (Permanent) visa (Subclass 189) made by the applicant, Rafique. The central dispute concerned whether the applicant met the points test criterion for this visa subclass, which requires an applicant's score to be not less than the score stated in their invitation to apply and not less than the qualifying score.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant achieved the qualifying score under the points-based system prescribed by Schedule 6D to the Regulations. This involved assessing the applicant's attributes against the relevant criteria, including age, English language proficiency, and overseas employment experience, as they stood at the time of the delegate's assessment and at the time of the Tribunal's assessment, applying whichever was more favourable. The applicant had nominated the occupation of Materials Engineer.

The Tribunal found that the applicant was entitled to 30 points for age, as they were between 25 and 33 years old at the time of invitation. However, no points were awarded for English language proficiency due to a lack of evidence of superior or proficient English. The Tribunal also considered overseas employment experience but did not detail the outcome of this assessment in the provided text. Despite these findings, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant was entitled to a maximum of 60 points under the points test.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration by the Minister, with a direction that the applicant meets the criterion specified in clause 189.214 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.