1903554 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Bridging E (Class WE) visa made by an applicant who had been resident in Australia since 2009. The applicant had held successive substantive visas and associated bridging visas, and had lodged multiple applications for Bridging Visas E, as well as applications for other visa subclasses and requests for Ministerial Intervention. The core dispute concerned whether the applicant met the criteria for the Bridging E visa, specifically whether he had made or was the subject of acceptable arrangements to depart Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant satisfied clause 050.212 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations, which requires an applicant to meet certain grounds, including making or being the subject of acceptable arrangements to depart Australia. This criterion must be satisfied at the time of the visa application and continue to be satisfied at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also considered the applicant's stated intentions and the genuineness of any arrangements he might have been making to depart.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant did not meet the requirements of clause 050.212. It noted that the applicant had previously received a Ministerial Intervention outcome decision in January 2019, and a subsequent repeat request lodged in February 2019 was finalised shortly thereafter. Crucially, at an interview following the refusal of his repeat Ministerial Intervention request, the applicant stated he had no intention of leaving Australia. While the applicant expressed a desire for time to organise himself and his family before departing, he provided no specific details regarding the nature or timeframe of any such arrangements, nor did he claim to meet any other alternative criteria within clause 050.212. The Tribunal also found that the applicant did not meet the requirements for a Subclass 051 (Bridging (Protection Visa Applicant)) visa.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Bridging E (Class WE) visa.