Zhang (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa, Subclass 457, by a web designer. The applicant's sponsor was Enti Financial Pty Ltd. The Department had initially refused the visa application on 29 November 2016, citing a lack of an approved business nomination. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, constituted by Alan McMurran, reviewed the nomination application and subsequently substituted a decision approving the nomination.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the visa applicant met the requirements of clause 457.223(4)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations. This subclause mandates that a nomination of an occupation relating to the applicant by a standard business sponsor must have been approved and not ceased. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if a nomination had been approved under section 140GB of the Act, if the nominator was a standard business sponsor at the time of approval, and if that approval had not ceased.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant's sponsor, Enti Financial Pty Ltd, held a valid standard business sponsor approval from 21 March 2016 to 21 March 2021. It found that a nomination for the applicant had indeed been approved under section 140GB of the Act, and that the nominator was a standard business sponsor at the time of approval, with the approval remaining in effect. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that clause 457.223(4)(a) was satisfied.

Given these findings, the Tribunal determined that the appropriate course of action was to remit the application for the Temporary Business Entry (Class UC) visa back to the Minister for reconsideration of the remaining criteria for a Subclass 457 visa. The Tribunal directed that the visa applicant met the criteria specified in clause 457.223(4)(a).