Adair (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by an applicant for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa. The applicant claimed to be the spouse of an Australian citizen sponsor. The core dispute concerned whether the applicant and sponsor were in a genuine and continuing spouse relationship at the time of the visa application and at the time of the decision.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant and sponsor met the requirements of a spouse relationship as defined by section 5F of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and relevant regulations. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the parties were married to each other under a valid marriage, had a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of others, and if their relationship was genuine and continuing, including whether they lived together or did not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.

The Tribunal found that while the parties were validly married, the applicant's own submissions indicated that their relationship had broken down. The sponsor had moved to another state for employment in March 2020, and the applicant stated she was no longer in the relationship. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the requirement for a genuine and continuing spouse relationship was not met at the time of the decision.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, as the applicant failed to satisfy the criteria for the grant of the visa.