Cheung v Minister for Immigration

In *Cheung v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant, Mr Cheung, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse his application for a partner visa. The dispute centred on whether Mr Cheung had provided sufficient evidence to satisfy the Minister that his relationship with his partner was genuine and continuing. The matter came before Judge Heffernan in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's delegate had erred in law by failing to properly consider all the evidence presented by Mr Cheung in support of his partner visa application. Specifically, the Court was asked to determine if the delegate had applied the correct legal test for assessing the genuineness of a relationship and whether the delegate's adverse findings were reasonably open on the evidence.

Judge Heffernan reasoned that the delegate had made an error of law by failing to give adequate weight to certain documentary evidence and oral testimony provided by Mr Cheung. The Court reiterated the principle that a delegate must consider all relevant evidence, both documentary and oral, when assessing a partner visa application, and that adverse findings must be supported by a proper analysis of that evidence. The delegate's conclusion that the relationship was not genuine was found to be based on an incomplete and unbalanced assessment of the material before them.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Minister's delegate be set aside and remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.