Vishnumolakala v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (No 2)

Vishnumolakala v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (No 2) involved an appeal against a decision of a Federal Magistrate refusing relief by way of constitutional writs against a decision of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs' delegate. The appellant had applied for a Skilled-Independent Permanent Resident visa but was unsuccessful. He sought relief against the decision by way of constitutional writs, which were refused by the Federal Magistrate. The appellant appealed this decision, but many of the grounds for appeal were abandoned. The court considered the remaining grounds, which were not previously in issue before the Federal Magistrate.

The court had to determine whether the Federal Magistrate erred in refusing to grant the relief sought by the appellant. The appellant argued that the delegate failed to consider certain matters when making the decision to refuse the visa application. The court considered the evidence presented to the delegate and the decision record, noting the absence of a statutory obligation to provide reasons and the parsimonious nature of the evidence before the Magistrate. The court found that it was difficult to draw inferences that the delegate failed to take matters into consideration given the absence of discussion of evidence or submissions in the decision record.

The court held that the Federal Magistrate did not err in refusing to grant the relief sought by the appellant. The court found that the delegate was not satisfied that the appellant met the employment experience criteria due to a perceived insufficiency of evidence in relation to a claim, not a failure to deal with a claim. The court held that the appellant’s argument failed because it was based on an incorrect premise. The court concluded that the appeal be dismissed with costs.

Accordingly, the court ordered that the appeal be dismissed with costs.