Somjich v Minister for Home Affairs

Somjich applied to the Federal Court of Australia for judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse her application for a partner visa. The applicant's relationship, which formed the basis of her visa application, had ended prior to the decision being made. Consequently, the applicant no longer satisfied the criteria for the partner visa.

The central legal issue before Egan J was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the partner visa application was affected by an error of law. Specifically, the court considered whether the applicant's failure to satisfy the visa criteria at the time of the decision, due to the termination of her relationship, rendered the refusal lawful.

Egan J reasoned that the legislative framework governing partner visas requires applicants to satisfy the prescribed criteria at the time the decision on their application is made. As the applicant's relationship had ended, she no longer met the essential criterion of being in a genuine and continuing relationship with her partner. Therefore, the Minister was correct in refusing the application on the basis that the applicant did not satisfy the relevant criteria. The application for judicial review was dismissed.