Wasiak (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Wasiak against a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) affirming the refusal to grant her a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, specifically a Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa. Ms Wasiak had applied for the visa as a dependent family member included in the application of her son-in-law, Mr Filip Palian, who was sponsored by Telstra Corporation Limited.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms Wasiak met the criteria under clause 457.321 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which requires an applicant to be a member of the family unit of a person who holds a Subclass 457 visa and has satisfied the primary criteria for that visa. The Tribunal was required to determine if Ms Wasiak continued to satisfy this requirement at the time of its decision.

The Tribunal's reasoning was that Mr Filip Palian, the primary visa holder, and his family, including Ms Wasiak, had their Subclass 457 visas cease on 7 July 2019, having been granted Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme permanent residence visas. Consequently, Mr Palian was no longer the holder of a Subclass 457 visa. The Tribunal had notified Ms Wasiak of this development pursuant to section 359A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and invited a response, which was not received. As the requirement for Ms Wasiak to be a member of the family unit of a current Subclass 457 visa holder was not met, the Tribunal concluded that an essential requirement for her visa grant was not satisfied.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant Ms Wasiak a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, noting there was no evidence that she met the primary requirements for such a visa independently.