Nouri (Migration)

This matter concerned a review of a decision to refuse a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa, subclass 309. The applicant, Marzia Rezai, a national of Afghanistan, sought the visa to join the sponsor, Mohammad Kazem Nouri, an Australian citizen. The primary decision maker refused the visa on the basis that the delegate was not satisfied that Ms Rezai was the spouse or de facto partner of Mr Nouri.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Rezai was the spouse or de facto partner of Mr Nouri at the time of the visa application and at the time of the Tribunal's decision. The delegate had found that the marriage was not valid because it was not formally registered with the Afghani government at the time of the application. Furthermore, the delegate considered the parties did not meet the criteria for a de facto relationship, as the relationship was unlikely to have commenced prior to marriage in their cultural context and was therefore of insufficient duration (less than 12 months) at the time of application.

The Tribunal noted that a formal Marriage Certificate, issued by Afghani authorities on 10 December 2018, was provided to the Tribunal after the primary decision was made. This certificate stated the marriage occurred on 2 October 2016. The Tribunal considered this new information and found a discrepancy between the marriage certificate date and the parties' claimed commitment date of 30 September 2016 to be of no consequence due to potential differences in civil calendars. The Tribunal also acknowledged the extreme civil unrest in Afghanistan and COVID-19 travel restrictions, the current five-year duration of the relationship, and the need to consider the safety of the visa applicant. The Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remitted for reconsideration.