Hussein (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Child (Migrant) (Class AH) visa, Subclass 101 (Child), made by a review applicant on behalf of a visa applicant. The central dispute concerned whether the visa applicant was the dependent child of the review applicant at the time of the visa application and continued to be so at the time of the Tribunal's decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine if the visa applicant met the criteria for a "dependent child" as defined in the Migration Regulations 1994. Specifically, the Tribunal needed to ascertain if the visa applicant was under 18 years of age at the time of application, or if they had turned 18, whether they were financially dependent on the review applicant or incapacitated for work. The Tribunal also had to confirm the existence of a child-parent relationship between the parties.

The Tribunal found that a DNA test conducted between the review applicant and the visa applicant, accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities, established a probability of maternity exceeding 99.99 per cent, satisfying the child-parent relationship requirement. However, the visa applicant's age at the time of application was contested. While the visa applicant claimed to be 15 years old based on a birth certificate issued by the Mayor of Mogadishu in 2011, this document was given little weight due to its late issuance and inconsistencies with the review applicant's evidence regarding the place of birth. The Tribunal noted that the visa applicant was under 18 at the time of application, which would satisfy one limb of the definition of "dependent child".

Given these findings, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration by the Minister, directing that the visa applicant met the criteria under cl.101.211 and cl.101.221 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994.