Zhang (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Zhang against a decision to refuse him a Business Skills (Residence) (Class DF) visa, specifically a Subclass 892 (State/Territory Business Owner) visa. The primary dispute revolved around whether Mr Zhang met the financial and operational requirements for the visa, particularly concerning his ownership interest in a business and his net business and personal assets. The decision was made by the Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine several legal issues. These included whether Mr Zhang had an ownership interest in an actively operating main business in Australia for the requisite period before his visa application and at the time of the decision, whether the application included the necessary Business Activity Statements, and crucially, whether his net business and personal assets met the threshold of $250,000 for at least 12 months prior to the application and at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also needed to consider whether the business was qualifying and whether Mr Zhang was involved in its day-to-day management.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that Mr Zhang did not satisfy all the necessary criteria for the visa. While the Tribunal acknowledged previous findings regarding net business assets, the central issue for this review was the satisfaction of clause 892.212(b), which requires net business and personal assets of at least $250,000. The Tribunal applied the principles that it will ordinarily apply policy unless it is unlawful or leads to an unjust decision, but it must not apply policy inflexibly or in a way that contradicts the legislation. The Tribunal found that Mr Zhang's net business and personal assets did not meet the required threshold for the specified period.