Tabbasum (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa, Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme), Direct Entry stream, made by the applicant, Tabbasum, and secondary applicants. The dispute arose because the applicant's nominated position was the subject of a nomination application that had been refused by the Department, and a subsequent review application to the Tribunal was affirmed. The applicant failed to respond to an invitation under s 359A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to provide comments on this information. The decision under review was affirmed by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the criteria for the Subclass 187 visa in the Direct Entry stream, specifically clause 187.233, which requires that the position to which the visa application relates be the subject of an approved nomination. The Tribunal was required to determine if the nomination application for the position had been approved and had not been subsequently withdrawn, and if other conditions related to the nomination, such as the employer, the availability of the position, and the timing of the visa application relative to the nomination approval, were met.

The Tribunal reasoned that clause 187.233 was not met because the nomination application for the position had been refused by the Department and this refusal was affirmed on review by the Tribunal. As the nomination had not been approved, the applicant could not satisfy this essential criterion for the visa. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had only sought to satisfy the criteria for the Direct Entry stream and had not made claims in respect of other visa streams. Consequently, as the requirements for the Direct Entry stream were not met, the decision under review had to be affirmed.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicants Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visas. As the secondary applicants' applications were dependent on the main applicant's application, their applications were also affirmed.