Jayamanne (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by Ms Jayamanne for approval as a sponsor for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (Subclass 870) visa. The central dispute concerned whether Ms Jayamanne met the income test requirement for sponsorship approval, which was lodged on 1 March 2020.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if Ms Jayamanne satisfied the income threshold for the relevant financial year preceding her application. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether her taxable income for the year ending 30 June 2019 met the required amount of AUD83,454.80.

The Tribunal reasoned that the prescribed criteria for sponsorship approval mandated meeting the income test for the specified year. Evidence presented indicated that Ms Jayamanne did not meet this threshold for the year ending 30 June 2019, as she was unemployed and studying for part of that period. Although she subsequently obtained full-time employment with a salary exceeding the threshold and indicated an intention to lodge a new application, this did not alter the assessment of her original application. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse to approve Ms Jayamanne as a sponsor.