Mankarious (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of a visa applicant seeking a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600. The dispute centred on whether the applicant met the criteria for a genuine temporary entrant, specifically concerning her location at the time of application and grant. The Tribunal was tasked with reviewing the delegate's decision to refuse the visa.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the visa applicant satisfied clause 600.214 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which requires the applicant to be outside Australia at the time of application and also outside Australia at the time of the visa grant. This clause is linked to clause 600.412, which states that if an applicant is outside Australia when they apply, they must remain outside Australia until the visa is granted.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's presence in Australia at a critical juncture. While the applicant's partner submitted that the applicant was in Australia between April and June 2022, and that the delegate had asserted the applicant was not outside Australia at the time of application, the partner also stated that the applicant returned to Vietnam on 11 June 2022. Crucially, the Tribunal noted the partner's admission that the applicant was present in Australia during the period of the delegate's review, which concluded on 9 June 2022. The Tribunal concluded that it was not satisfied that the visa applicant genuinely intended to stay temporarily in Australia for the purpose for which the visa was granted, and therefore found that the requirements of clause 600.412 were not met.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision not to grant the visa applicant a Visitor (Class FA) visa.