After the adjustments to the 482 occupation list in the last financial year, we started seeing a significant number of refusals in 407 visa applications, and issues with 482 chef nominations have also increased.

Recently, we received several consultations regarding 482 chef nomination refusals, which made us realize that this has become a common occurrence. Today, we’ll analyze the common reasons for refusals and discuss what corrective actions you can take within the given time frame to avoid future issues.

 

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Caveat Requirements for Chef 482 Nominations

For chef positions, there are specific caveat requirements:

First, as a chef, the place where you work cannot be a limited service restaurant or a processing plant.

Limited service restaurants include, but are not limited to:

·Fast food outlets and restaurants focused on takeaway, such as fast casual restaurants, cafes, and pizza places that mainly serve beverages and cold or simple meals.

There are several key factors that determine whether a restaurant is considered "limited service":

a. Is the order placed by a waiter, or via QR code?

b. Is payment made before or after the meal?

c. Is the order placed at the counter or at the table?

d. Does the customer have to pick up their own food?

e. Is alcohol served?

f. Are the menu items diverse?

g. Does the restaurant have a full commercial kitchen?

h. Are the meals semi-prepared?

Additionally, some cases were rejected because the salary provided was at the very minimum threshold of $73,150, with more than 40 hours per week stated. Immigration officers may reject the application if the salary does not meet the required standard.

If the salary is calculated based on ordinary hours (i.e., 38 hours per week), the salary might fall short, making it impossible to prove that the salary meets the requirement.

Another common issue is incomplete Labour Market Testing (LMT) documentation, which can also lead to a rejection.

 

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Corrective Actions After a Refusal

If your 482 visa application is refused but you did not select the option to automatically cancel the visa upon nomination refusal, you will receive a notice requesting an explanation. In the worst-case scenario, you will have 28 days to respond to the immigration authorities.

During this period, the visa will not be rejected. If the visa application is withdrawn on the 28th day, you will have an additional 35 days to respond from the date of withdrawal.

This means you’ll have at least 63 days to resolve the issue.

During this time, since the visa hasn’t been rejected, you will have enough time to re-submit the nomination and a new 482 visa application.

Of course, the re-submission should only be done if we are confident that the second nomination will be successful.

This approach is much faster and more effective than waiting for an ART appeal, which could take two to three years to get a result.

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