Tribunal: Member Christopher Packer
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) refused to grant Skilled Independent (Permanent) visas to the applicants on 6 June 2016. The applicants appealed this decision to the AAT.
The Skilled Independent visa is a points-based visa designed for skilled applicants who have submitted an expression of interest and received an invitation to apply for the visa. A criterion of this visa is that the applicant must achieve the qualifying score on a points test based on scores for particular attributes. Examples of attributes include age, education, work experience and English language. Some elements of the test relate to the nominated skilled occupation, which in this case was Systems Analyst.
The primary applicant (the applicant who would work in the nominated occupation) was the subject of the review and the secondary applicant applied for the visa as the primary applicant’s partner.
The primary applicant was invited to apply for the visa and after consideration, including conducting the points test, the Department determined she did not reach the qualifying score of 60.
The AAT considered the applicant’s attributes against the points test and found she was entitled to a maximum of 55 points under the points test, less than the qualifying score of 60.
The AAT affirmed the Department’s decision.
Read the full decision on AustLII.