1901805 (Migration)

The applicant sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, subclass 820. The applicant, who was the partner of an Australian citizen, had applied for the visa but was found not to meet Schedule 3 criteria. The applicant contended that there were compelling reasons to waive these criteria, particularly in light of the child of the relationship, who had significant medical conditions, and the pooled financial resources of the couple.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Minister had erred in law in refusing to grant a waiver of Schedule 3 criteria under Regulation 2.12(1)(c) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). This required the court to consider whether the circumstances presented by the applicant constituted "compelling reasons" for the waiver, taking into account the best interests of the child and the financial circumstances of the applicant and her partner.

The court found that the delegate had failed to adequately consider the impact of the child's medical conditions and the pooled financial resources when assessing the compelling reasons for a waiver. The delegate's reasoning was found to be superficial and did not engage with the specific evidence provided by the applicant regarding these matters. Consequently, the court determined that the decision under review was affected by jurisdictional error. The matter was remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.