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Immigration News & Resources

Waiver of cohabitation requirement

Background In this case our client applied for a spouse visa after having been in a relationship with her partner for 17 months. For most of their relationship, however, the couple had lived separately and maintained separate households. The visa application was rejected by Immigration on the grounds that for the 12 months before the application, the couple had not actually been living together. Our involvement For the appeal, we drafted detailed statutory declarations for our client detailing the circumstances of the couple’s relationship and the reasons for their decision to live apart for much of the relationship. We made carefully argued submissions...

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Proving direct and continuous involvement in a business

Background The applicant had held a sponsored 457 temporary business visa on which he had travelled extensively, including many trips to China, at the time that he applied for a Business Skills Residence visa. In his application he relied on owning and managing an Australian business.  Before our involvement Immigration had determined that the applicant’s frequent travel overseas must have precluded him from managing his business in Australia as he was often absent from it. Immigration concluded that the applicant had therefore not maintained direct and continuous involvement in management of his business from day to day, and told him he...

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Visa refused without proper reasons

Background The applicant travelled to Australia on a four-year visa.  After working in Australia for approximately two years and prior to instructing us, the applicant and his large family applied to the Department for a permanent employer nomination visa.  This visa application was refused.   When the Department sent the decision to the applicant it was not correctly addressed to the client and did not contain proper reasons as to why the applicant’s visa was refused. The applicant did not appeal this decision to the Migration Review Tribunal within the normally allowed time.  As a result, when he did appeal to the Migration...

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De Facto Spouse Financial Aspects

Background Our client entered Australia on a student visa and remained on various student visas for four years.  While in Australia she met an Australian citizen with whom she started a lasting relationship.  Although they were living in an exclusive relationship, they were not married and Immigration refused to allow the applicant to remain as a de facto spouse of an Australian citizen.  (A de facto marriage is a relationship that is in all respects the same as a traditional marriage except for the absence of any official certification). Our involvement In order to prove that a de facto marriage exists the following...

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Health waiver: videotape evidence

Background This is a case in which our client, her mother, two older brothers and grandfather were all nominated by our client’s father to come to Australia where he had established a successful business.  They had all met the visa requirements except for one, which was that our client did not meet all the ‘public interest’ health criteria.  Our client had some serious medical problems as well as some cognitive difficulties. Immigration took the view that our client would cost Australia too much in medical expenses and that she would be unlikely to get employment.  Our client was given the opportunity to...

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Psychological dependence

Background In this case our client has been included on his father’s visa application as a dependant child.  As he was fifteen years old at the time the application was made this would not normally have been a problem. However, by the time Immigration made a decision on the visa application our client was well over eighteen years old.  Immigration decided that he was no longer a dependant of his father and it refused his visa application. Our involvement We argued that due to the fact that our client was still in education and still being supported both financially and psychologically by his...

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Refugee case: Sri Lanka

Background This client applied for a protection visa based on his fear of persecution in Sri Lanka.  Our client had been caught between two warring sides in a civil war in Sri Lanka.  As an ethnic Tamil he and his family had suffered a great deal of persecution including being beaten and having their house burnt down.  He was told to fight with the LTTE “Tamil Tigers” which he refused to do and was therefore detained on a number of occasions by the Tamil rebels.  At the same time he was suspected by the Sri Lankan Government of being involved with...

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Dependant children over 18

Dependent children over 18 In this case our client originally came to Australia as a refugee from Vietnam.  He had been an officer in the South Vietnamese army. After the fall of Saigon he had been put into a concentration camp, from which he eventually escaped.  He was forced to leave his wife and four children in Vietnam and flee for his life.  He did, however, continue to support them by sending them money over the years. Eventually his wife made an application for her and her four children, who were now all over the age of 18, to join our client in...

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Criminal conviction, illegal overstayer

Criminal conviction, illegal overstayer In this case our client had come to Australia originally on a six month visitors visa.  He faced persecution in his home country if he were to return.  Unfortunately for our client he was not aware of the immigration applications available.  He stayed illegally in Australia for several years after the expiration of his visitors visa. Sadly, our client was exploited by criminal elements and engaged in fraudulent activity.  Our client was arrested and convicted and sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment.  At the end of his criminal sentence he was transferred from prison to an...

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Student Visa cancellation (working too many hours)

Australian Student Visa Cancellation In this case our client originally came to Australia as a student but as a result of a delay on the part of Immigration, and falling ill, he was not able to complete his original course.  He then applied for a further student visa which restricted his ability to work to twenty hours.  Because of financial hardship our client found himself in a position in which he had to work more than the twenty hours allowed by law.  Immigration became aware of this and cancelled his visa. Our involvement Our client appealed this decision and we represented him before...

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