The nomination of an occupation forms a constituent part of a valid skilled visa application and is requested in clear terms within the application form – ‘what is your nominated occupation?’
There are few defensible circumstances in which an applicant may be forgiven for nominating the wrong occupation. Nevertheless, it may still be possible to find, as a matter of fact, that the occupation specified in the application form was not the nominated occupation. For example, there may be a mismatch between the occupations in question and the applicant’s qualifications and experience, the skills assessment sought, and the relevant assessing authority specified on the application form.
The effect of specifying the wrong occupation may be extremely detrimental to your application and difficult to remedy.
Singh Migration [2019] AATA 5586
The applicant applied for a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa in the nominated occupation of Lift Mechanic. It was accompanied by evidence that he had applied for a skills assessment to the relevant assessing authority. He did not provide a skills assessment to the Department for Lift Mechanic, but a copy of a skills assessment in which he had been successfully assessed for the occupation of Electrical Engineering Technician. He claimed that he relied on the professional service of a migration agent who had prepared all the documents and nominated the occupation of Lift Mechanic when he should have nominated Electrical Engineering Technician.
The Tribunal considered that the applicant might be dissatisfied with the service provided by the migration agent but there were other avenues open to him for complaint.
On the evidence, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant simply nominated the wrong occupation as a mistake, noting that he received a negative outcome for the skills assessment as a Life Mechanic. The Tribunal affirmed the Department’s decision.
Lao Migration [2019] AATA 5587
The applicant applied for a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa in the nominated occupation of ICT Business Analyst. At the hearing, she stated that she made an error in her application. She had wanted to put her nominated occupation as ICT Sales Representative, but due to a clerical error she had inadvertently selected ICT Business Analyst. She said that as the occupations in the drop down box online were one after the other and both starting with the acronym “ICT,” the mistake was a mere clerical error. She provided evidence that she had applied for a skills assessment for ICT Sales Representative on the same date she lodged her application. She also provided proof that she studied a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and was employed as an ICT Sales Representative.
The Tribunal was satisfied that it was simply a clerical mistake and that she had intended to apply for ICT Sales Representative and not ICT Business Analyst. The Tribunal remitted the matter for reconsideration.
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