1723963 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the applications of two visa applicants who sought to be included as dependent children on their mother's Subclass 309 Partner visa application. The core dispute revolved around whether the applicants met the criteria of being a "member of the family unit" and "dependent children" at the time of their mother's visa application and at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the visa applicants qualified as dependent children and members of the family unit of their mother, who had satisfied the primary criteria for the Subclass 309 visa. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether the applicants met the time of application criteria under cl.309.311 and the time of decision criteria under cl.309.321 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, considering the definitions of "member of the family unit," "dependent child," and "dependent" as provided in regulations 1.12, 1.03, and 1.05A.

Despite significant concerns regarding the credibility of the information provided by the visa applicants, their mother, and other family members, the Tribunal found that there was evidence to support the claim that both applicants were substantially reliant on their mother for financial support for their basic needs at the time of the application and continued to be so at the time of the decision. The Tribunal noted that both applicants were over 18 at the time of application and there was no evidence of incapacity for work. However, the Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration.

The Tribunal remitted the applications for Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visas for reconsideration, with the direction that both visa applicants met the criteria specified in cl.309.311 and cl.309.321 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.