Shu (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review by a sponsor of decisions by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to refuse Parent (Migrant) (Class AX) visas for her parents. The applications, lodged in 2008, were refused in 2017 after the Department requested, but did not receive, a mandatory assurance of support. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) subsequently received evidence that the assurance of support had been accepted by the Department of Human Services, Centrelink.

The primary legal issue before the AAT was whether the visa applicants had satisfied the mandatory criterion of having an accepted assurance of support, as required by clause 103.226 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. The AAT also considered whether the second visa applicant met the requirements of clause 103.325, which relates to inclusion in an assurance of support.

The AAT reasoned that the review applicant had now provided sufficient evidence that the required assurance of support had been accepted by the Department of Human Services, Centrelink, acting on behalf of the Secretary. The Tribunal was satisfied that this Commonwealth agency had indeed accepted the assurance of support. Consequently, the AAT found that the first visa applicant met the requirements of clause 103.226 and, as the second visa applicant was included in that assurance, she also met the requirements of clause 103.325. The AAT remitted the applications for reconsideration with directions that the visa applicants met these specified criteria.