1718024 (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820 (Spouse), where the applicant was found not to meet the health criteria due to a dependent child not meeting the requirements of Public Interest Criterion (PIC) 4007(1)(c). The review was conducted by Justin Meyer.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant met PIC 4007, specifically clause 4007(1)(c), which requires an applicant to be free from a disease or condition that would likely necessitate significant health or community services, resulting in substantial cost to the Australian community or prejudice to the access of Australian citizens or permanent residents to such services. The Tribunal also considered whether the waiver provisions under PIC 4007(2) were applicable.

The Tribunal reasoned that while a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) opinion was required to assess PIC 4007(1)(a), (b), and (c), and such an opinion must be taken as correct, the Tribunal must first be satisfied that the MOC applied the correct statutory criteria. In this instance, the Tribunal determined that the waiver provision under PIC 4007(2)(b) was applicable. The Tribunal placed weight on the interests of the applicant's Australian citizen sponsor and their Australian-born child, concluding that waiving the PIC 4007(1)(c) requirement was unlikely to result in undue cost to the community or prejudice access to services.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant meets PIC 4007(2)(b) for the purposes of clause 820.224 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.