Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Granted After Refused Nomination and AAT Appeal Withdrawn

Background

An IT company sought to nominate its current employee under the occupation of Computer Network and Systems Engineer via the Subclass 186 (Direct Entry Stream). The nomination was refused by the Department on the basis that the company's financial losses had not been adequately addressed. As a consequence, the visa applicant received a notice that his visa application may also be withdrawn. The company's previous advisers had directed them to pursue an AAT review of the nomination refusal. The core difficulty was that waiting for the AAT appeal to conclude — typically over 3.5 years — created serious risk: if the visa application was ultimately refused while the AAT appeal was pending, the applicant would become section 48 barred and unable to lodge a further Subclass 186 onshore.

Challenges

• Nomination refused due to financial losses not adequately addressed, putting the visa application at risk
• If the visa received a refusal during the AAT appeal wait, the applicant would be section 48 barred from relodging onshore
• AAT appeals for Subclass 186 nominations average over 3.5 years to resolve