1616049 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application before the Migration Review Tribunal, where the review applicant sought to have Visitor (Class FA) visa applications reconsidered. The dispute centred on whether clause 600.232 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) was satisfied, a requirement that the visa applicants be sponsored by a settled Australian citizen or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old and a relative of the visa applicants. In this instance, both visa applicants were being sponsored by the review applicant.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the review applicant met the criteria to be considered a sponsor under clause 600.232. This involved assessing whether the review applicant was a "relative" of the visa applicants, whether he was at least 18 years old, whether he was a settled Australian permanent resident, and whether he was indeed sponsoring the visa applicants. The definition of "relative" and "close relative" under regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations was central to this determination.

The Tribunal considered a copy of the review applicant's Philippines Birth Certificate, which indicated his parents were the visa applicants. It accepted this document as genuine and, based on its contents and other provided information, concluded that the review applicant was the child of the visa applicants. This established him as a "close relative" and therefore a "relative" for the purposes of the regulations. The Tribunal also accepted that the review applicant was 32 years old and had been granted a subclass 189 Skilled Independent Visa in October 2015, making him an Australian permanent resident. Furthermore, his movement records indicated he had resided in Australia for over three years, with only short periods absent, leading the Tribunal to be satisfied that he was "settled" in Australia. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the requirements of clause 600.232 were met. The Tribunal remitted the applications for Visitor (Class FA) visas for reconsideration, directing that the visa applicants met the criteria under clause 600.232.