Rakesh (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485, Graduate Work stream, brought before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The applicant sought to satisfy the primary criteria for this visa, specifically clauses 485.223 and 485.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which relate to the applicant's skills in their nominated occupation. The central dispute revolved around whether the applicant had met these specific visa requirements.

The Tribunal was required to determine two key legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant had applied for a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority for their nominated skilled occupation at the time of the visa application, as mandated by clause 485.223. Secondly, the Tribunal had to ascertain whether the applicant's skills had been assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by a relevant assessing authority within the preceding three years, in accordance with clause 485.224. The definition of "skilled occupation" and "relevant assessing authority" under the Regulations were also relevant to these determinations.

The Tribunal reasoned that for the nominated occupation of Chef (ANZSCO Code: 351311), the relevant assessing authority was Trade Recognition Australia (TRA). While the applicant's visa application was not initially accompanied by evidence of an application for a skills assessment, the Tribunal found that the applicant had subsequently obtained a Provisional Skills Assessment Result of 'successful' from TRA on 10 July 2018 for the occupations of Chef and Cook. This assessment satisfied the requirements of clause 485.223 and clause 485.224(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant met these specified criteria.