Le (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820 (Partner), made by Ms Truong Nha Tran Le, the applicant, and sponsored by Mr Khac Lan Chau, an Australian citizen. The central dispute was whether the applicant and sponsor were in a genuine and continuing relationship at the time of the visa application and at the time of the decision. The Tribunal was required to consider the validity of the parties' marriage and the various aspects of their relationship as defined by the Migration Regulations 1994.

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

The Tribunal found that the parties were validly married, having provided coherent oral evidence regarding their meeting, the commencement of their relationship, and their marriage. The Tribunal accepted their evidence that they met on 19 September 2015, committed to a relationship on 24 December 2015, and married on 28 January 2018. The Tribunal also considered the financial aspects of the relationship, noting the joint ownership of their home and the direct debit of mortgage repayments from their joint account. However, the Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration by the Minister, directing that the applicant met the criteria under cl 820.211 and cl 820.221 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.