Federal Court. Was the duration of a relationship with a partner visa sponsor an irrelevant consideration for the purpose of cl 820.211(2)(d)(ii) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth)? Could the registration of a de facto relationship be seen as a compelling reason to waive the criteria in Schedule 3?
Cl 820.211(2)(d)(ii) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) provided as follows: "in the case of an applicant who is not the holder of a substantive visa... 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".
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Was the duration of a relationship with a partner visa sponsor an irrelevant consideration for the purpose of cl 820.211(2)(d)(ii)?
Question 2: Could the registration of a de facto relationship be seen as a compelling reason to waive the criteria in Schedule 3?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: