Monday, 4 January 2016

Lee Case Overturned Clarifying Appeal Rights for 457 Refusals



As a result of the 2014 Lee case (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v Lee [2014] FCCA 2881), the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has had no jurisdiction to review 457 visa refusals unless there was an approved nomination at the date the appeal was lodged.

This was a significant barrier to appealing refused 457s, particularly where the reason for refusal of the 457 was an issue with the nomination.
 
The Lee case has been overturned by the Full Federal court in Ahmad v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015] FCAFC 182. As a result, it is now possible to lodge an appeal for a 457 refusal where at the date of the appeal:
  • There is an approved nomination; or
  • A nomination application is still pending; or
  • There is a refused nomination, but the nomination has also been appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) (formerly the 'Migration Review Tribunal (MRT)'.
However, it appears that it would not be possible to appeal a 457 visa refusal if:
  • A nomination has been refused, but not appealed to the MRT; or
  • A nomination has previously been approved, but has now expired.


 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment