Woods (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa application made by an applicant seeking to satisfy the criteria for a Subclass 485 visa in the Graduate Work stream. The dispute centred on whether the applicant had met the 'Australian study requirement' as stipulated by the relevant regulations.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had satisfied the Australian study requirement within the six months immediately preceding the visa application, and whether the qualifications relied upon were closely related to the applicant's nominated skilled occupation. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine the actual completion date of the applicant's Diploma of Automotive Technology course, as this date was critical to establishing whether the Australian study requirement was met prior to the visa application being lodged.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had provided conflicting information regarding the completion date of her Diploma. While her application form and an initial letter from the college indicated a completion date of 28 December 2018, the visa application was lodged on 24 December 2018. The applicant later provided evidence suggesting her last day at college was 21 December 2018, and that the college was closed for Christmas from that date until 7 January 2019. To resolve this discrepancy, the Tribunal contacted the college for confirmation of the date the applicant met the academic requirements for the Diploma.

Following its consideration, the Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration. The Tribunal directed that the applicant be taken as meeting the criteria under cl 485.221 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, allowing the Minister to consider the remaining criteria for the visa.