Dang (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, subclass 820. The applicant sought review of a decision concerning their eligibility for the visa, specifically relating to sponsorship requirements. The core of the dispute centred on whether the applicant's sponsor met the criteria outlined in regulation 1.20J(1) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the sponsor satisfied the conditions for approving a sponsorship under regulation 1.20J(1), particularly concerning the timing of previous sponsorships. Regulation 1.20J(1)(a) limits a person to a maximum of two approved partner sponsorships. However, regulation 1.20J(1)(b) stipulates that if a person has entered into a previous sponsorship, the application for that sponsorship must have been lodged at least five years before the current application. The Tribunal also considered clause 820.211, which requires the applicant to be sponsored by an eligible person who is at least 18 years old and an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen, and that this sponsorship must be approved by the Minister and remain in force.

The Tribunal found that the sponsor had lodged a previous partner visa application on 3 November 2017. The delegate's decision was made on 23 November 2021, which was less than five years after the previous application was lodged. Consequently, regulation 1.20J(1)(b) was not met. While the sponsor had not exceeded the limit of two sponsorships under regulation 1.20J(1)(a), the temporal requirement of regulation 1.20J(1)(b) was not satisfied at the time of the delegate's decision. The Tribunal noted that the applicant was sponsored by an eligible individual who met the age and citizenship requirements.

Given these findings, the Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration. The application for the Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, subclass 820, was remitted to the Minister with a direction that the applicant meets criterion cl 820.221(4) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.