Ozturk (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered whether the applicant, Mr Ozturk, qualified as a member of the family unit of the primary visa applicant, Mr Hikmet Ozturk, for the purposes of a Temporary Activity (Class GG) visa (Subclass 408). The dispute centred on whether the applicant, aged 29, met the dependency requirements stipulated in the Migration Regulations 1994.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the applicant satisfied clause 408.311 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, specifically whether he was a "dependent child" of the family head. This required an assessment of the dependency criteria outlined in regulation 1.12(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which defines a member of the family unit.

The Tribunal reasoned that for a child over 18 to be considered a member of the family unit, they must be dependent on the family head. Regulation 1.12(2)(b)(iii) further specifies that for individuals aged 23 and over, dependency must be established under paragraph 1.05A(1)(b), which requires the person to be wholly or substantially reliant on the family head due to incapacitation for work. While the applicant provided evidence of his enrolment in university courses and completion of business-related qualifications, the Tribunal found no evidence demonstrating that he was wholly or substantially reliant on his father for financial support due to an incapacity to work. The Tribunal noted that the applicant was enrolled in a Bachelor of Business and later a Bachelor of Information Systems, and had also completed vocational qualifications. However, no information was presented to the Department or the Tribunal regarding the applicant's financial dependence or his inability to work.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant did not meet the definition of a dependent child as required by the Regulations. Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Temporary Activity (Class GG) visa.