Suarez Ardila (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa in the Graduate Work stream, lodged by Mr. Suarez Ardila. The core dispute concerned whether the applicant satisfied the Australian study requirement and, crucially, whether the courses he completed in Australia were closely related to his nominated occupation of Industrial Engineer.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant met the criteria under clauses 485.221 and 485.222 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations. Specifically, it needed to assess whether the applicant had satisfied the Australian study requirement in the six months prior to his visa application and whether his qualifications, namely a Diploma of Project Management and an Advanced Diploma of Project Management, were closely related to the occupation of Industrial Engineer as defined by ANZSCO and Engineers Australia.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's Diplomas in Project Management were closely related to the occupation of Industrial Engineer. It noted that the Institute of Engineers refers to project execution based on engineering principles, and the applicant's courses enabled him to perform more effectively in this regard. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered that several tasks listed in the ANZSCO description for Industrial Engineer, such as organisation, work units, labour, analysis, workers and efficiency, and quality control, were directly applicable to project management. The Tribunal also took into account information from Engineers Australia's MSA Booklet, which indicated that knowledge of contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline includes an awareness of business and enterprise management fundamentals, and the structure, roles, and capabilities of the engineering workforce, all of which are relevant to project management.

Consequently, the Tribunal found that the applicant met the requirements of clauses 485.221 and 485.222. The matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration of the remaining criteria for the visa.