Sonia (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to cancel the applicant's Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa, specifically a Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa. The applicant, Sonia, had provided answers in her visa application that were alleged to be incorrect.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Circuit Court was whether the Minister's decision to cancel Sonia's visa was affected by jurisdictional error. This involved determining whether the incorrect answers provided in the visa application, relating to sole custody of a child and plans to sponsor her husband for a spouse visa at a later date, were material to the visa grant and whether the applicant had a genuine intention to sponsor her husband. The court also considered the circumstances of the applicant's separated husband, who was seeking legal access to their child.

The court found that the applicant's answers regarding sole custody and future sponsorship were not demonstrably false or misleading in a way that would render the visa grant invalid. The court reasoned that the applicant's intention to sponsor her husband at a later time was a future intention, not a present fact that could be definitively stated as false. Furthermore, the court noted that the husband's current legal actions regarding child access did not negate the applicant's potential future ability or intention to sponsor him. Consequently, the court determined that the decision to cancel the visa was affected by jurisdictional error.

The court ordered that the decision under review be set aside.