Dos Santos (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820 (Partner), by an applicant claiming to be the spouse of an Australian citizen sponsor. The central dispute before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was in a genuine spousal relationship with the sponsor at the time of the visa application on 6 October 2016, and at the time of the decision. The Tribunal also considered evidence of events subsequent to the application date and made findings regarding the "at the time of decision" criterion.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the parties met the requirements of a spouse relationship as defined by section 5F of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and regulation 1.15A of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the parties were validly married, and if so, whether they demonstrated a mutual commitment to a shared life as a married couple to the exclusion of all others, that the relationship was genuine and continuing, and that they lived together or not separately and apart on a permanent basis. The assessment of these matters required consideration of the financial and social aspects of the relationship, the nature of their household, and their commitment to each other.

The Tribunal found that the parties were validly married in Western Australia on 22 August 2014, satisfying the requirement under section 5F(2)(a). In assessing the other criteria for a spousal relationship, the Tribunal had regard to all the documents on file, including written submissions and eight statutory declarations from friends and family provided by the applicant in support of the review application. The Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration, directing that the applicant met the criteria under cl 820.211(2) and cl 820.221(1)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.