Kareem v Minister for Immigration

This matter concerned an application for judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which affirmed the Delegate of the Minister for Immigration's refusal to grant the applicant a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) (Subclass 309) visa. The first respondent, the Minister, raised an objection to the competency of the applicant's application to the Federal Circuit Court, seeking its dismissal.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had the standing to bring an application for judicial review of the AAT's decision under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the applicant qualified as a party to the judicial review proceeding as defined by sections 478, 479, and 486C of the Act.

The Court reasoned that under section 338(5) and section 347(2)(b) of the Act, only the sponsor of a partner visa, in this case Mr Kareem, could seek review of the Delegate's decision by the AAT. Further, sections 478 and 479 of the Act stipulate that for migration decisions made on review by the AAT, the applicant in that AAT review is the party who may make an application for judicial review to the Federal Circuit Court. Section 486C(2)(a) reinforces this by stating that only a party to a review mentioned in section 479 may commence or continue such proceedings. As the applicant before the Court was not the review applicant before the AAT, they lacked the requisite standing.

Consequently, the Court found the applicant's application to be incompetent and made the orders sought by the Minister, dismissing the application. The Court noted that no injustice would be done as the AAT's decision would still be subject to judicial review at a later hearing, with Mr Kareem being the appropriate party to bring that review.