Weymouth (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600 (Tourist stream), made by a Fijian citizen. The applicant sought to visit her Australian parents and an Australian grandmother she had never met, intending to stay from November 2017 to January 2018. Her father, an Australian citizen, provided financial sponsorship and accommodation. The applicant was a full-time student in Fiji at the time of her application.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant was a "genuine temporary entrant" (GTE) as required by the migration regulations. This involved assessing whether the applicant genuinely intended to stay temporarily in Australia and would depart at the end of her lawful stay. The Tribunal also considered evidence relating to the applicant's family ties in Fiji, her educational commitments, and her potential to overstay her visa.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the evidence presented, including an adoption order establishing the applicant's parents as her adoptive parents, her birth certificate, and her academic achievements in Fiji. Crucially, the Tribunal considered documentation demonstrating the applicant's enrolment in a Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree at Fiji National University commencing in February 2018, with subsequent enrolment in the second year in 2019. The Tribunal was satisfied that this evidence, along with submissions from the review applicant regarding the applicant's willingness to pay a security bond and her strong ties to Fiji, indicated a genuine intention to stay temporarily.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the visa applicant met the criteria for a genuine temporary entrant and remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met the requirements of clause 600.211 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations.