Zou (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the application of Ms. Zou for review of a decision concerning her Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa. The central dispute revolved around whether Ms. Zou was within the "migration zone" at the time she lodged her application for review with the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to hear Ms. Zou's application for review. This jurisdiction was contingent upon Ms. Zou having made a "properly made" application under section 347 of the relevant migration legislation, which in turn required her to be within the migration zone at the time of lodging the review application.

The Tribunal determined that the Department's movement records indicated Ms. Zou was not in Australia when she applied for review. Consequently, the Tribunal found that she was not in the migration zone at the relevant time. As a result, her application for review was not considered a properly made application under section 347, and the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to proceed with the matter. The Tribunal therefore made no order on the merits of the visa application itself, as the jurisdictional issue was determinative.