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Tribunal: Member Denise Connolly

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection refused to grant the applicant a Regional Employer Nomination visa. The applicant applied to the AAT for a review of the decision.

A business sponsored the applicant for the position Marketing Specialist. The visa applied for has three visa streams. The applicant chose the Direct Entry stream, which has three different criteria that can be satisfied. The criteria relevant to the applicant’s circumstances required the applicant to demonstrate that he held the qualifications listed in ANZSCO as being necessary to perform the tasks of a Marketing Specialist[1]. ANZSCO, the Australian and New Zealand Standard of Classification Occupations, is a skill-based classification for all jobs in the Australian workforce developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. According to ANZSCO, a Marketing Specialist is a skill level 1 occupation, which requires a bachelor degree or a higher qualification, or alternatively, at least five years’ relevant work experience[2].

The applicant claimed he had a Diploma of Cooking Arts from Chile and a Diploma of Hospitality from Australia. He also claimed that he had worked as a chef at a restaurant in Chile and gained work experience relevant to the position of a Marketing Specialist during that time. He gave evidence that he organised wine events promoting regional wines and worked at the restaurant in cooking and wine promotion. He also claimed he was involved in the preparation for a yearly festival for three years, for a few months each year which included contacting wineries, undertaking office work and setting up for the festival.

The AAT noted that the applicant’s written reference from that restaurant claimed that he had worked as a wine sales promotions officer from December 2003 to December 2009. The applicant acknowledged that this was incorrect and clarified he was actually working as a kitchen hand while he completed his cooking course..

The AAT was not satisfied the applicant’s Diploma qualifications alone were sufficient to demonstrate that he had the necessary qualifications for the occupation. It went on to consider the applicant’s employment experience, and found that the applicant was essentially a chef in the restaurant from about 2008 until 2009 and prior to that he was a kitchen-hand. The AAT accepted that he was involved, on a part-time basis, in the preparation of a wine festival for a total of about nine months and that he had contact with wineries and promoted wines during the festival. The AAT was not satisfied this part-time experience over a total period of about nine months was sufficient to say that he had at least five years’ relevant experience. The AAT has also considered the applicant’s extensive experience as a chef. It accepted that the sponsor valued that experience because it was advantageous when selling wine to restaurants. However, the AAT was not satisfied his extensive experience as a chef or cook provided him with the relevant experience to undertake the duties of a Marketing Specialist.

The AAT also considered the applicant’s qualifications and employment experience together but was not satisfied his diploma qualifications in hospitality and cooking, along with all of his employment experience, demonstrated that he had the qualifications listed in ANZSCO as being necessary to perform the tasks of a Marketing Specialist.

The AAT affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.

Read the full written decision on AustLII.

 

[1] Clause 187.234(c)(ii) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations

[2] See the full description in ANZSCO 225113