Trinidad (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of an applicant, a citizen of the Philippines, who sought review of a decision to refuse his Child (Residence) (Class BT) Subclass 802 visa application. The applicant had previously applied for a Temporary Graduate (Graduate Work) Subclass 485 visa, which was refused more than six months after completing his commercial cookery course. He then applied for the Child visa while remaining in Australia.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether section 48 of the *Migration Act 1958* applied to the applicant, and if so, whether he met the criteria for a Subclass 802 visa, specifically whether he had "become" a dependent child of an Australian citizen or permanent visa holder since his last substantive visa application. The Tribunal was required to determine if the applicant was a dependent child as defined by the *Migration Regulations 1994*, considering the period between his Graduate visa application refusal and his Child visa application lodgement.

The Tribunal found that section 48 of the *Migration Act 1958* applied because the applicant did not hold a substantive visa at the time of his Child visa application and had a prior visa application refused since his last entry into Australia. Regarding the dependent child criteria, the Tribunal noted that for applicants under 18 years of age, the definition of "dependent child" in regulation 1.03 of the *Migration Regulations 1994* is met by law, without requiring a demonstration of actual financial reliance. As the applicant was under 18 at the time of his Child visa application, he was deemed to be a dependent child of his mother, who held permanent residency in Australia. However, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not met the criteria for the grant of the visa.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a Child (Residence) (Class BT) visa, finding that the criteria for the visa were not met.