Liu (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered whether it had jurisdiction to review a decision concerning a Visitor (Class FA) visa, subclass 600 (Visitor), tourist stream. The visa applicant's step-daughter sought to sponsor her and apply for a review of the visa refusal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the step-daughter qualified as a "specified relative" for the purposes of sponsoring the visa applicant and making an application for review under the relevant migration legislation. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the definition of "child" in the relevant provisions extended to include a "step-child".

The Tribunal reasoned that the term "specified relatives" was limited and specific. Applying the ordinary meaning of the words, the Tribunal concluded that "child" did not encompass "step-child" in this context. Consequently, the review applicant was not a relative referred to in the relevant provisions.

As the review applicant was not a specified relative, her application for review was not properly made under section 347 of the relevant Act. Therefore, the Tribunal held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.