1505900 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa. The applicant claimed to be the spouse of Ms Gia Linh Luu, an Australian permanent resident. The core dispute before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was the spouse of Ms Luu at the time of the decision, as required by cl.820.221 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant and Ms Luu were in a married relationship for the purposes of the Act. This involved assessing whether they were married to each other under a valid marriage, whether there was a mutual commitment to a shared life as husband and wife to the exclusion of all others, whether the relationship was genuine and continuing, and whether they lived together or not separately and apart on a permanent basis, as stipulated by s.5F(2)(a)-(d) of the Act.

The Tribunal found that the parties were validly married on 27 July 2013, satisfying s.5F(2)(a). However, upon considering all circumstances of the relationship at the time of the decision, the Tribunal found no current evidence of joint assets or liabilities, financial obligations, or pooling of financial resources. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the parties were living together or not living separately and apart on a permanent basis, nor that they represented themselves to others as being in a relationship. The Tribunal noted that the relationship had broken down, the applicant was in a new relationship, and therefore, the parties were not in a continuing relationship.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, as the applicant did not satisfy the criteria for the grant of the visa.