Shan (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr. Shao against a decision of the Migration Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) which affirmed the refusal to grant him a Skilled Nominated (Permanent) (Class SN) visa, subclass 190. The central issue was whether Mr. Shao qualified as a "member of the family unit" of Ms. Yuanyuan Ding, the primary visa applicant, by being her de facto partner.

The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr. Shao was a member of Ms. Ding's family unit for the purposes of the visa application, specifically whether he met the definition of a de facto partner as defined in section 5CB of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and Regulation 1.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). This involved assessing whether their relationship was genuine and continuing, whether they had a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others, and whether they lived together or did not live separately on a permanent basis.

The Tribunal found that Mr. Shao was no longer the de facto partner of Ms. Ding. This conclusion was based on Mr. Shao's own admission during a hearing that his relationship with Ms. Ding had ceased. Following this admission, the Tribunal provided Mr. Shao with an opportunity to comment on the potential impact of this information on his visa application. Mr. Shao responded by agreeing that he was no longer in a relationship with Ms. Ding, and therefore, he did not meet the criteria under clause 190.311 of the Regulations. Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant Mr. Shao the visa.