VAQUERO VALIENTE (Migration)

[2023] AATA 4528

VAQUERO VALIENTE (Migration) [2023] AATA 4528 (15 December 2023)

DECISION RECORD

DIVISION:Migration & Refugee Division

APPLICANTS:  Mr Carlos Miguel VAQUERO VALIENTE
Mrs Patricia Lopez Casajus

CASE NUMBER:  2208030

HOME AFFAIRS REFERENCE(S):          BCC2020/1112572

MEMBER:Terrence Baxter

DATE:15 December 2023

PLACE OF DECISION:  Brisbane

DECISION:The Tribunal remits the application for Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visas for reconsideration, with the direction that the first named applicant meets the following criterion for a Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa:

·cl 187.223(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Statement made on 15 December 2023 at 10:34am

CATCHWORDS
MIGRATION – Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa – (Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsorship Migration Scheme) – photographer – subject of approved position nomination – related nomination application refused – joint hearing of nomination and visa reviews – nomination refusal set aside – member of family unit – decision under review remitted

LEGISLATION
Migration Act 1958 (Cth), s 65
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Schedule 2, cls 187.223(2), 187.311

STATEMENT OF DECISION AND REASONS

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

1. This is an application for review of a decision made by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse to grant the applicants Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visas under s 65 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act).

2. The applicants applied for the visas on 11 March 2020. At the time of application, Class RN contained one subclass: Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme).

3. The criteria for a Subclass 187 visa are set out in Part 187 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (the Regulations). The primary criteria must be satisfied by at least one applicant. Other members of the family unit, if any, who are applicants for the visa need satisfy only the secondary criteria. Applicants seeking to satisfy the primary criteria must meet the 'Common criteria', as well as the criteria of one of two alternative visa streams: the Temporary Residence Transition stream, or the Direct Entry stream.

4. In the present case, the first named applicant (the applicant) is seeking the visa in the Temporary Residence Transition stream, to work in the nominated position of Photographer for Heart to Heart Studios Pty Ltd (the nominator).

5. The delegate refused to grant the visas on 16 May 2022 because the applicant did not meet cl 187.223(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations which required that he be the subject of an approved nomination. The delegate found that the nomination of the nominator was refused on 7 May 2020 and that accordingly the applicant did not meet the requirements of cl 187.223(2) and did not meet the requirements of cl 187.223 as a whole.

6. The delegate also found that the second named applicant could not be granted a Subclass 187 visa, as she did not meet the secondary visa criterion (cl 187.311) requiring her to be a member of the family unit of a person who met the primary visa criteria and holds a Subclass 187 visa.

7. The applicants lodged an application for review of the delegate’s decision with the Tribunal on 1 June 2022.

8. The applicants appeared before the Tribunal by video conference on 11 October 2023 to give evidence and present arguments. The hearing was a joint hearing with the application for review of a decision to refuse the related nomination application.

9. The Tribunal exercised its discretion to hold the hearing by video conference. The Tribunal determined it was reasonable to hold a hearing by video conference, having regard to the nature of this matter and the individual circumstances of the applicants. The Tribunal also had regard to the Tribunal’s objective of providing a mechanism of review that is fair, just, economical and quick, and the delay to the matter if the hearing was not to be conducted by video conference.

10. The applicants were represented in relation to the review by their registered migration agent, Mr Karol Nowak until 29 September 2023.

11. For the following reasons, the Tribunal has concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration.

    CONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE

12. The issue in the present case is whether there is an approved nomination.

    Nomination of a position

13. Clause 187.223 as applicable in this case is set out in full in the attachment to this decision. Essentially, it requires that the position to which the application relates is the subject of an application for approval of a nomination in the Temporary Residence Transition stream that identifies the visa applicant. The position must be the one that was the subject of the declaration made as part of the current visa application.

14. In addition, this criterion also requires that:

    ·the nomination has been approved and has not been subsequently withdrawn

    ·there is no ‘adverse information’ known to Immigration about the person who made the nomination or a person ‘associated with’ that person (within the meaning of reg 1.13A and reg 1.13B); or it is reasonable to disregard any such information

    ·the position is located in regional Australia (as defined in reg 5.19)

    ·the position is still available to the applicant, and

    ·the visa application was made no more than six months after the nomination of the position was approved.

15. Records of the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) indicate that the nominator made an application to the Department to have the position of Photographer approved, with the applicant as nominee, on 11 March 2020. The nomination application was refused on 7 May 2020 and the nominator sought review of that decision with the Tribunal on 26 May 2020.

16. On 15 December 2023, the Tribunal (as presently constituted) set aside the Department’s decision to refuse to approve the nomination and substituted a decision to approve the nomination by the nominator.

17. Therefore, cl 187.223(2) is met in respect of the applicant.

18. Given these findings, the appropriate course is to remit the visa application to the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for the visa.

19. The second named applicant has applied on the basis that she is a member of the family unit of the applicant. Her application will also be determined on remittal to the Department for reconsideration in light of the Tribunal’s findings in relation to the applicant.

    DECISION

20. The Tribunal remits the application for Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visas for reconsideration, with the direction that the first named applicant meets the following criterion for a Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa:

    ·cl 187.223(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

    Terrence Baxter
    Member

    
    

    ATTACHMENT A

    187.223(1)     The position to which the application relates is the position:

    (a)nominated in an application for approval that:

    (i)identifies the applicant in relation to the position; and

    (ii)is made in relation to a visa in a Temporary Residence Transition stream; and

    (c)in relation to which the declaration mentioned in paragraph 1114C (3) (d) of Schedule 1 was made in the application for the grant of the visa.

    (2)     The Minister has approved the nomination.

    (3)     The nomination has not subsequently been withdrawn.

    (3A)    Either:

    (a)there is no adverse information known to Immigration about the person who made the nomination or a person associated with that person; or

    (b)it is reasonable to disregard any adverse information known to Immigration about the person who made the nomination or a person associated with that person.

    (4)     The position to which the application relates is located in regional Australia.

    (5)     The position is still available to the applicant.

    (6)     The application for the visa is made no more than 6 months after the Minister approved the nomination.