Review of a decision to refuse an Aged Dependent Relative on grounds of insufficient financial evidence
The applicant’s application for an Aged Dependent Relative visa was refused on the grounds that the visa applicant failed to show evidence of financial support from her daughter, the nominator for a reasonable period prior to the date of lodgment.
The visa applicant only became substantially reliant on her daughter, the nominator for financial support for approximately 4 months prior to when the visa application was lodged.
The delegate stated that a reasonable period according to policy was 3 years. However, it is always open for officers to decide that dependency may exist for a ‘reasonable period’ being less than 3 years.
Furthermore, policy requirements that dependency must be for a ‘substantial period’ immediately before the time of application, which is usually taken to be at least 12 months.
Although the visa applicant’s dependency of 4 months falls well short of the 12 months, the Tribunal may depart from policy if there are cogent reasons in doing so. The reasons include:
- Age of visa Applicant and the fact that she has no home to return to
- Visa applicant’s other children are unable to financially support her on a regular basis
- Visa applicant’s homelessness and desperate financial situations appears to have arisen from circumstances largely beyond her control, namely the downturn in the Zimbabwean economy
- Visa applicant has been unable to wholly or substantially support herself financially since January 2002 and she did not choose to become dependent on the nominator.
The review was successful as the Tribunal remits the application for the visa to the Department for them to consider the remaining criteria of the visa.
Related Link: MRT Decision