Tan (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Tan against the refusal of her application for a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa, graduate work stream. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to conduct a fresh review of her eligibility for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms Tan met the mandatory requirement under clause 485.223 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which necessitates that a visa application for the graduate work stream must be accompanied by evidence of having applied for a skills assessment by a relevant authority. A secondary issue arose from submissions suggesting Ms Tan may have intended to apply under the post-study work stream, which has different requirements.

The Tribunal affirmed the refusal. It found that Ms Tan's application clearly indicated she was applying under the graduate work stream and that the requirement for a skills assessment under clause 485.223 was unambiguous. While the Tribunal accepted Ms Tan was unaware of the different visa streams and the skills assessment requirement at the time of application, it found her subsequent discovery of this requirement and her later attempt to rectify it did not equate to an intention to apply under the post-study work stream from the outset. Therefore, the Tribunal concluded that Ms Tan had not satisfied the mandatory criterion for the graduate work stream.