Rani (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant for a Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, subclass 187, direct entry stream, and a secondary applicant, against a decision to refuse their visa applications. The primary dispute revolved around whether the applicant had been nominated in accordance with the relevant legislative criteria.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the requirements of clause 187.233 of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically concerning the nomination of the position. This clause mandates that the position must be the subject of an approved nomination application made in regional Australia, and that the applicant must be identified in relation to that position if the nomination was made on or after 1 July 2017. Further requirements included that the employer must be the nominator, the nomination must have been approved and not withdrawn, there must be no adverse information known to the Department about the nominator or associated persons (or such information must be disregarded), the position must remain available, and the visa application must be lodged within six months of the nomination's approval.

The Tribunal found that the associated nomination application lodged by Dreamweaver Education Consultancy Pty Ltd had been refused by a delegate of the Minister and had not been approved. As the review of this nomination refusal had been finalised by the Tribunal with a finding of no jurisdiction, the nomination had not been approved as required by clause 187.233(3). The Tribunal noted that it had no discretion to vary or change the legislative criteria. Despite being invited to comment on the approval status of the nomination, the applicant and her husband declined to do so. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that clause 187.233 was not met.

Given that the primary applicant failed to meet the criteria for the direct entry stream, the secondary applicant was also unable to meet the criteria for secondary applicants under clause 187.311. Therefore, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visas to both applicants.