Menji (Migration)

This decision concerned an application for a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa, subclass 309. The applicant sought to establish that they were the spouse of the sponsor, an Australian citizen. The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for the visa, specifically whether they were the sponsor's spouse at the time of application and at the time of the decision, and whether the relationship was genuine and continuing.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant was the sponsor's spouse for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act) at the time of application and at the time of the decision. This required assessing whether the parties were married under a valid marriage, had a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of others, that the relationship was genuine and continuing, and that they lived together or not separately and apart on a permanent basis, as defined by section 5F of the Act and elaborated in regulation 1.15A.

The Tribunal found that the parties were validly married, evidenced by a marriage certificate from Sri Lanka. However, the Tribunal considered the financial aspects of the relationship, noting irregular money transfers from the sponsor's mother to the applicant, totalling approximately AUD 7275 over a period of about 16 months. While these transfers indicated some financial support, the Tribunal did not find them sufficient, in conjunction with other unstated evidence, to demonstrate a genuine and continuing spousal relationship that met the requirements of the Act. The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the visa.