Veerabhadra (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Skilled Independent (Permanent) visa (Subclass 189) made by an applicant who nominated the occupation of Solicitor. The central dispute concerned whether the applicant met the points test criterion for the visa, specifically whether their assessed score was not less than the score stated in their invitation to apply and not less than the qualifying score.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant satisfied the points test criterion under Subdivision B of Division 3 of Part 2 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved assessing the applicant's score against the qualifications and points prescribed in Schedule 6D to the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth) and the applicable pass mark in force at the time of the delegate's and the Tribunal's assessments, applying whichever was more favourable. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the nominated occupation of Solicitor (ANZSCO 271311) was a "skilled occupation" as defined by the relevant legislative instrument, LIN19/051.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant was entitled to 30 points for age, as they were 30 years old at the time of their invitation to apply on 9 October 2018. Furthermore, the applicant was awarded points for superior English language proficiency, having achieved a score of 90 in each component of the PTE Academic test conducted on 25 July 2018, which exceeded the requirement of 79 for each component. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant was entitled to a maximum of 70 points under the points test. As this score met the requirements of the invitation to apply and the qualifying score, the applicant satisfied clause 189.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for the Skilled Independent (Permanent) visa for reconsideration, with a direction that the applicant meets the criterion under clause 189.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.