ZHANG (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for an Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, Subclass 186, specifically within the Temporary Residence Transition stream. The applicant, Mr Guanxi ZHANG, and secondary applicants, Ms CHUNXIA WANG and Miss HUI ZHANG, sought to have a decision affirmed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) reviewed. The Tribunal, presided over by De-Anne Kelly, was tasked with determining whether the applicants met the relevant criteria for the visa.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicants satisfied clause 186.223 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This clause requires, among other things, that the position nominated for the visa must be the subject of an approved nomination, that the nomination has not been withdrawn, that there is no adverse information concerning the nominator or associated persons, that the position remains available to the applicant, and that the visa application was made within six months of the nomination's approval. The Tribunal also considered whether the secondary applicants met clause 186.311.

The Tribunal's reasoning was that the employer nomination had previously been refused by a delegate of the Minister, and this decision was affirmed by the Tribunal on 8 September 2020, on the basis that the nominator failed to satisfy regulation 5.19(3). Consequently, there was no approved employer nomination to satisfy clause 186.223(2). The Tribunal had invited the applicants and their migration agent to comment on this issue, but no response was received. As a result, the Tribunal concluded that the applicants did not meet clause 186.223(2), and therefore, clause 186.223 as a whole was not satisfied. Furthermore, the secondary applicants were found not to meet clause 186.311.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa to the applicants.