austlii:cth/FedCFamC2G/2025/677
General information, not legal advice.
FedCFamC2G
2025-05-19
Original judgment source is linked above.
FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA (DIVISION 2)
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court's records.
Note: The Court may vary or set aside a judgment or order to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.05(2)(g) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.05 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a person is the spouse of another person (whether of the same sex or a different sex) if, under subsection (2), the 2 persons are in a married relationship.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), persons are in a married relationship if:
(a) they are married to each other under a marriage that is valid for the purposes of this Act; and
(b) they have a mutual commitment to a shared life as a married couple to the exclusion of all others; and
(c) the relationship between them is genuine and continuing; and
(d) they:
(i) live together; or
(ii) do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.
(3) The regulations may make provision in relation to the determination of whether one or more of the conditions in paragraphs (2)(a), (b), (c) and (d) exist. The regulations may make different provision in relation to the determination for different purposes whether one or more of those conditions exist.
(1) For subsection 5F(3) of the Act, this regulation sets out arrangements for the purpose of determining whether 1 or more of the conditions in paragraphs 5F(2)(a), (b), (c) and (d) of the Act exist.
(2) If the Minister is considering an application for:
(a) a Partner (Migrant) (Class BC) visa; or
(b) a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa; or
(c) a Partner (Residence) (Class BS) visa; or
(d) a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa;
the Minister must consider all of the circumstances of the relationship, including the matters set out in subregulation (3).
(3) The matters for subregulation (2) are:
(a) the financial aspects of the relationship, including:
(i) any joint ownership of real estate or other major assets; and
(ii) any joint liabilities; and
(iii) the extent of any pooling of financial resources, especially in relation to major financial commitments; and
(iv) whether one person in the relationship owes any legal obligation in respect of the other; and
(v) the basis of any sharing of day‑to‑day household expenses; and
(i) any joint responsibility for the care and support of children; and
(ii) the living arrangements of the persons; and
(iii) any sharing of the responsibility for housework; and
(c) the social aspects of the relationship, including:
(i) whether the persons represent themselves to other people as being married to each other; and
(ii) the opinion of the persons' friends and acquaintances about the nature of the relationship; and
(iii) any basis on which the persons plan and undertake joint social activities; and
(d) the nature of the persons' commitment to each other, including:
(i) the duration of the relationship; and
(ii) the length of time during which the persons have lived together; and
(iii) the degree of companionship and emotional support that the persons draw from each other; and
(iv) whether the persons see the relationship as a long‑term one.
An applicant meets the requirements of this subclause if:
(a) the applicant is the spouse or de facto partner of a person who:
(i) is an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen; and
(ii) is not prohibited by subclause (2B) from being a sponsoring partner.
...
(d) in the case of an applicant who is not the holder of a substantive visa--either:
(A) entered Australia as the holder of a Subclass 995 (Diplomatic) visa or as a special purpose visa holder who at the time of entry met the requirements of subclause (2A); and
(B) satisfies Schedule 3 criterion 3002; or
(ii) the applicant satisfies Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, unless the Minister is satisfied that there are compelling reasons for not applying those criteria.
(a) the applicant did not satisfy one of the Schedule 3 criteria in cl 820.211(2)(d)(ii) of Schedule 2; and
(b) there were no compelling reasons for not applying the Schedule 3 criteria.
(a) the financial aspects of the relationship;
(b) the nature of the household;
(c) the social aspects of the relationship; and
(d) the nature of the persons' commitment to each other.
(a) the applicant's claims against the Sponsor that the Sponsor psychologically abused the applicant, the Sponsor "used the visa application to control him by constantly threatening to cancel the visa application", and the Sponsor "never showed the applicant her commitment to the marriage"; and
(b) the Sponsor's claim against the applicant "that he married her for a visa outcome".
Judicial review application and steps up to 29 April 2025
Particulars
(a) Text messages exchanged between the applicant and his former wife at CB 1069-1097.
(b) Letters from Catherine Sinclair, psychologist, dated 4 July 2020 and 27 July 2020 (at CB 1385-1388).
(a) On 1 July 2016, which may have been shortly prior to the first time the parties met, they exchanged text messages saying "I love you". (CB 1069)
(b) On 4 July 2016, which was shortly after the parties first met, they exchanged text messages, including "I love you", "Miss you Habibi" and "I miss and love Lara". (CB 1076-1077)
(c) On 19 and 20 July 2016, which was between the date of the parties' Islamic marriage (on 9 July) and civil marriage (in early August), the parties exchanged text messages, including the Sponsor sending the applicant a YouTube link to a song, the applicant replying "I still love your heart more Habibi" and "I miss your lips", and the Sponsor replying "I miss yours too. I miss everything about you." (CB 1096)
(d) On 22 August 2016 (which was after the applicant and Sponsor married), the Sponsor wrote: "Salam my sun and stars I can't express in words how much I love you and how grateful Allah brought you too me". (CB 1116)
(e) On 8 September 2016, the parties exchanged text messages, including the applicant writing "Habibi I love you and miss you a lot. Wish now be between you arms" and the Sponsor replying "I wish I was in your arms too". (CB 1123)
(a) The text messages contain "expressions of love and affection" (AS [30]) by the Sponsor and applicant to each other, or representations indicating "considerable mutual affection" (AS [27]).
(b) The Tribunal did not expressly refer to these particular text messages in its statement of reasons in the course of making a finding at [73] that, even if the applicant provided some companionship and emotional support to the Sponsor, "there is no evidence that this was reciprocated by the sponsor".
(c) Therefore, the Tribunal either overlooked or misunderstood the text messages in considering reg 1.15A(3)(d)(iii).
After the applicant's sister's call, the sponsor on 22 November 2016, texted the applicant stating that she wanted to work things out.
The applicant provided the Tribunal with copies of text messages between the applicant and the sponsor's mother and text messages between the parties. These have all been considered and some content is recorded in this decision record.
Other information related to text message exchanges between the parties. Some of these messages are difficult to read and others are undated. However, in one of these exchanges the applicant stated that the sponsor was not committed to the parties' marriage and didn't want him when he had no money. The sponsor responded and stated that she married the applicant because she loved him and didn't want him because they ran out of money. In another text message the applicant asked the sponsor to send him $1,500 and she responded that she didn't have that much money and that she couldn't understand why he wouldn't ask his sister or parents for the money. In another text message the sponsor stated that trying to push someone to do something against their values won't work and she didn't want to be charged with a federal offence. Other messages relate to cross assertions about the parties' relationship. Various email exchanges between the parties have also been provided. The information in the text messages and emails has been considered.
On 21 November 2016, the sponsor sent a text message to the applicant stating that she did not love him and she divorced him by stating 'I divorce you; I divorce you; I divorce you'.
Lara came to stay with me several times during her Workcover process. I learned a lot about her intentions during this time. I could see that marriage for her was not a partnership, a relationship or anything that resembled a genuine commitment for the right reasons ... There were many incidents that caused me concern ..
The Tribunal at [59] referred to this part of Ms E's statutory declaration in considering the nature of the parties' commitment to each other. Ms E also provided details of several of the "incidents that caused [her] concern" and caused her to hold the opinion expressed in the extract above about the Sponsor's attitude to the marriage. The Tribunal at [65] summarised these incidents in considering the nature of the parties' commitment to each other.
(a) sets out the findings on any material questions of fact; and
(b) refers to the evidence or any other material on which the findings of fact were based.
(a) An "applicant for judicial review of the Tribunal's decision, as the moving party, bears the onus of establishing jurisdictional error on the part of the Tribunal", and thus it falls to an applicant "to establish a basis for drawing the inference necessary to make out the alleged jurisdictional error": Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZGUR [2011] HCA 1; 241 CLR 594 at [67].
(b) The "fact that particular evidence is not referred to in the tribunal's reasons does not necessarily mean that the material was overlooked": Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZSRS [2014] FCAFC 16; 309 ALR 67 (SZSRS) at [34].
(c) A "court in considering a challenge to the tribunal's decision is generally entitled to infer that any matter not mentioned in the reasons was, at the very least, not considered by the tribunal to be material to its review": SZSRS at [33].
(d) The "findings and evidence that the tribunal has set out in its reasons may be used as a basis for inferring that the matter or evidence in question was not considered at all" (SZSRS at [34]), or conversely that it was considered.
(a) the applicant's case to the Tribunal explained in paragraph 44 above and the applicant's evidence in support of that case (including the evidence of Ms E referred to in paragraph 45 above); and
(b) the Tribunal's reasons at [73] (see paragraph 49 below),
a reason the Tribunal did not refer to the mutual expressions of love and affection in the text messages, in the course of considering "the degree of companionship and emotional support that the [applicant and Sponsor] draw from each other", was because the Sponsor's expressions of love and affection were not material to this issue. I agree with the first respondent's submission at RS [14] that the Tribunal considered the text messages, including the assertions of love and affection by the Sponsor, consistently with the applicant's own claims about the Sponsor's attitude to the relationship.
The Tribunal accepts that the parties met virtually on 20 June 2016 and that they married in an Islamic ceremony on 9 July 2016 and by civil ceremony in August 2016. The parties make serious allegations against and about each other and respond to the allegations by denying them. The parties provided inconsistent information about their relationship. On one hand, the sponsor claimed that the parties 'never formally lived together' and spent very little time together throughout their relationship and the applicant visited her. She asserted that the applicant entered marriage for visa purposes and that she was abused by the applicant and fearful of him. On the other hand, the applicant claimed that the parties' marriage was genuine and he lived with and was abused by the sponsor, who entered the marriage for financial gain. There is little evidence from the sponsor about the companionship and emotional support the parties drew from each other. Within months of the parties' marriage the sponsor withdrew sponsorship for the partner visa application, then reinstated the sponsorship then withdrew it again. During the parties' married relationship, they separated and reunited. Within approximately five months of the parties' marriage they were living apart and a short time later, accusing each other of abusive behaviour and lodging TPOs against each other. While the Tribunal may accept that the parties lived together for a time, because of the inconsistent information about them living together, it does not accept that they lived together as the applicant claimed. Even if the Tribunal accepted that the applicant provided some companionship and emotional support to the sponsor, there is no evidence that this was reciprocated by the sponsor. The Tribunal does not accept that the parties provided companionship and emotional support to each other or that they saw their relationship as long term.
The Tribunal, in this paragraph, provided reasons in support of the conclusion in the last sentence of [73]. The reasons provide an "evident and intelligible justification" (Singh v Minister for Home Affairs [2019] FCAFC 3; 267 FCR 200 at [61]) for the conclusion in the last sentence. This point contributes to a conclusion that the representations in the text messages were not considered by the Tribunal to be material to this issue.
I certify that the preceding fifty-two (52) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of Judge Zipser.
Metwalli
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2025] FedCFamC2G 677