Sheila Woods | Registered Migration Agent | Over 10 years experience in visa appeals
A couple came to see us very distressed following their partner visa being refused by the Department of Home Affairs. The husband, who was the visa applicant, had a period of 21 days to leave the country and had contacted us for assistance with only 10 days remaining.
They were obviously desperate to stay together in Australia and one day start a family here and needed our professional assistance to demonstrate the genuineness of their relationship to the Department. In Australian legislation, Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations for Partner visa applications requires couples in a married or defacto relationship to prove the ‘genuineness’ of their relationship.
Regulation 1.15A sets out four elements which a government processing officer must consider when assessing the genuineness of a relationship: the financial and social aspects of their relationship, the nature of their household and the nature of their commitment to each other.
I began by taking the couple through the process of analysing their relationship evidence with a view to presenting it to the ART in a coherent manner for the basis of their appeal. I then prepared a detailed submission to the Administrative Review Tribunal on their behalf and worked with them to prepare their evidence and documentation.
I also prepared the couple for their tribunal hearing, which clients can find to be both a mental and emotional process. I supported them through the process to present a confident and valid expression of their appeal to the Tribunal and they were successfully granted their partner visa.
Visa refusals can be unnerving for those facing the reality that they may soon need to leave the country unprepared and without their loved one. It is a situation which can benefit greatly from professional advice and support in order to successfully put forward a appeal.
Like many of our other agents who specialise in visa refusals, cancellations and appeals, I find the work to be very rewarding. I am happy to say the couple came back to us a few years later to refer us to a friend and also to introduce us to their baby boy.