Talib v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

The applicants, citizens of Pakistan, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) which affirmed a delegate's refusal to grant them Regional Employer Nomination (Subclass 187) Visas. The refusal was based on the applicants failing to meet the criterion in cl 187.233(3) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) because they did not have an approved nomination. The applicants had applied for the visas in 2016, and the Tribunal's decision was made on 11 September 2020.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal committed jurisdictional error by failing to give proper, genuine, and realistic consideration to the nomination and visa applications. The applicants contended that the Tribunal acted unreasonably and unconscionably by not adequately informing them about the nomination review, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this failure, along with alleged issues with a notice dated 15 January 2020, amounted to a denial of natural justice and procedural fairness.

Street J found that the applicants' submissions invited an impermissible merits review of the Tribunal's decision. The Court held that the applicants' personal circumstances, the work they undertook, or any alleged negligence by their migration agent did not constitute relevant error that would permit the Court to grant relief. The Court concluded that nothing presented by the applicants identified an arguable case of relevant error, and therefore, the application for a constitutional writ was dismissed.