Tran (Migration)

The applicant, Tran, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse her application for a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa. The primary dispute concerned whether Tran met the English language proficiency requirement for the visa at the time of her application.

The central legal issue before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was whether the applicant had satisfied the English language proficiency requirement for the Subclass 485 visa. Specifically, the court had to determine if evidence of this proficiency, in the form of a test result, was required to accompany the visa application as per the relevant legislative instrument, or if it could be provided at a later stage.

Justice Mercer found that the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) and the relevant legislative instrument mandated that evidence of English language proficiency must be provided at the time of the visa application. As Tran had not passed the required English language test until after lodging her application, she had failed to meet a mandatory criterion for the visa. The court therefore dismissed the application for judicial review.