Singh (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision to refuse a Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa, Direct Entry stream, made by Mr Harjinder Singh. The applicant's sponsoring employer, Randhawa Australia Pty Ltd, had applied for approval of a nomination for the position of Retail Manager, for which Mr Singh was the nominee. The Department of Immigration refused the nomination application, and this decision was subsequently affirmed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The applicant's visa application was then refused by the Department because the nomination had not been approved.

The primary legal issue before the AAT was whether the applicant's Subclass 187 visa application could be granted, given that the employer nomination had been refused and that refusal affirmed. The AAT was required to determine if the applicant met the criteria for the visa, specifically the requirement that the nominated position be the subject of an approved nomination.

The Tribunal reasoned that a fundamental requirement for the grant of a Subclass 187 visa is that the position specified in the visa application must be the subject of an approved nomination, as stipulated by cl.187.233 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. As the employer's nomination had been refused and this refusal upheld by the Tribunal, there was no valid approved nomination. The Tribunal had invited the applicant to comment on this information, but no response was received by the specified deadline, which also meant the applicant was not entitled to appear before the Tribunal. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.