Taleb (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the application of Mr Taleb for review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The Minister had refused to grant Mr Taleb a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate), on the basis that he had made a false or misleading statement in relation to his application. Specifically, the statement related to a skills assessment for the occupation of Cook, which the Department of Education and Training (DET) indicated it had no record of.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Taleb had made a false or misleading statement in his visa application, and if so, whether the Minister's decision to refuse the visa was correct. The Tribunal also had to consider whether any of the criteria for the visa could be waived, given the circumstances.

The Tribunal found that Mr Taleb had indeed made a false or misleading statement by claiming to have a valid skills assessment from the DET when no such record existed. The Tribunal noted that the DET's assessment was a mandatory requirement for the subclass 485 visa for the occupation of Cook. As the statement was found to be false and the requirement could not be waived, the Tribunal affirmed the Minister's decision to refuse the visa.