Alicos (Migration)

The applicant sought review of a decision concerning a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600. The dispute arose because the applicant acknowledged that the person they intended to visit in Australia was neither an Australian citizen nor a permanent resident. Furthermore, the application for review was not made by a relevant person who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and the prescribed fee had not been paid, nor had any request been made for a fee reduction. The decision was made by David McCulloch, a Member of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the visa decision. This involved determining whether the applicant met the criteria for standing to seek review, specifically concerning the residency status of the person to be visited in Australia and the status of the applicant themselves in relation to making the review application. A secondary issue concerned the payment of the prescribed fee for the review application.

The Tribunal reasoned that jurisdiction was absent on multiple grounds. Firstly, the applicant's own admission that the intended visitor was not an Australian citizen or permanent resident meant that a key jurisdictional prerequisite was not met. Secondly, the Tribunal found that the applicant was not a "relevant person" as defined for the purposes of review, implying a requirement for the applicant to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Finally, the non-payment of the prescribed fee, without any request for a reduction, rendered the application invalid and deprived the Tribunal of jurisdiction.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the application for review.