Ministerial Intervention Grants Graduate Visa After English Proficiency Refusal — Registered Nurse in Public Interest

Background

The applicant lodged an application for a VC-485 Skilled Graduate visa in June 2012. The application was refused in December 2012 because he had not met the English language proficiency requirement at the time of application. However, in a second IELTS test completed after lodgement, he achieved scores that met the requirement. In May 2013, the MRT affirmed the refusal. Although the Tribunal acknowledged that the second test demonstrated adequate English, it could not take those results into account because they post-dated the visa application. The applicant was a qualified and registered nurse working in aged care, had lived in Australia since 2008, was deeply integrated into the community, lived with relatives who were Australian citizens (his own mother had passed away), and had genuine intentions to work in regional and remote areas facing nursing shortages.

Challenges

• MRT had no power to consider the post-application IELTS score that demonstrated the applicant's true English proficiency
• First IELTS score did not meet the requirement, despite the applicant's evident English competency as shown by the second test
• Applicant faced potential removal despite being a qualified nurse working in an aged care sector with critical staffing shortages
• Australian citizen relatives — acting as his family unit after his mother's passing — faced financial and psychological hardship if the applicant was removed