Francis (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse Mr Francis' application for a Visitor (Class FA) Subclass 600 visa. Mr Francis applied for the visa on 12 May 2020, seeking to satisfy the primary criteria in the Tourist stream. The delegate refused the application on the grounds that Mr Francis did not meet criterion 600.223 because he was in Australia at the time of application without holding a substantive visa, and he did not satisfy criterion 3001 in Schedule 3 to the Regulations.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Francis satisfied the Schedule 3 criteria, specifically criterion 3001, given that he was in Australia and did not hold a substantive visa at the time of his application. Criterion 3001 requires that an application for a visa be lodged within 28 days of the "relevant day," which is defined as the last day the applicant held a substantive visa or criminal justice visa.

The Tribunal found that Mr Francis' last substantive visa, a VC-485 Post Study Work Visa, was valid until 2 February 2020. The Tribunal accepted that Mr Francis was aware of this date, as evidenced by his understanding of the delegate's decision record. As Mr Francis lodged his Visitor visa application on 12 May 2020, this was 100 days after his last substantive visa ceased. This period significantly exceeded the 28-day timeframe stipulated by criterion 3001. Consequently, Mr Francis failed to satisfy this essential criterion.