It’s All in the Family
The Tadese family is close, but not as close as the Department of Immigration say they are.
Mr Tadese and his wife Genet Abebe met, married and had a baby boy they named Natneal.
Mr Tadese is an Australian citizen who has been living in Melbourne for the past 11 years. He is an Uber driver, resides in West Footscray, Melbourne and any way you look at it appears to live an ordinary life, in line with Australian laws and values.
Genet Abebe and her son Natneal are living in Ethiopia. Natneal is about to turn four. He was granted Australian citizenship by descent but Genet, the wife of Mr Tadese has been refused an offshore partner visa.
In order to lodge a successful partner visa application, there are eligibility criteria which must be satisfied. The criteria are devised to protect and preserve the Australian way of life, values and laws. The most obvious criterion is that the couple is in a genuine and continuing relationship, to the exclusion of all others. Divorced applicants without proof of divorce will struggle to satisfy this requirement. Applicants and sponsors whom the Department finds (in its investigations) to have active dating profiles on the internet have been refused partner visas.
Another eligibility criterion is that the applicant is of good character and without a criminal record. Amongst other things, the Department requires visa applicants to obtain police clearances to meet the character test. Likewise, applicants who attempt to conceal information or mislead the Department on any fact will almost always be found out, resulting in adverse character findings and visa refusals.
An adverse character finding results in a partner refusal regardless of whether a genuine relationship is proven to exist.
Genet's refusal was based on one adverse finding – DNA testing results undertaken in 2012.
The DNA results revealed a statistical likelihood of 66 to 1 that the pair are biological half-siblings.
In 2014, whilst carrying their son Natneal, the Department of Immigration refused Genet Abebe’s visa on the basis that the DNA results were ‘moderately strong’ evidence that the couple share the same mother.
Mr Tadese is adamant that the DNA evidence is wrong. The couple’s families live in different parts of Ethiopia and had never met prior to their marriage.
The couple’s relationship began after an introduction by a friend of Mr Tadese who was Genet Adebe’s Aunt. They began talking over the telephone for some months before Mr Tadese went to Ethiopia to meet her.
In 2012, the couple was married in front of 200 wedding guests in Addis Ababa at an Ethiopian Orthodox church. Mr Tadese states that the church would not have allowed half-siblings to marry. The marriage is valid under Ethiopian law.
Mr Tadese returned to Australia to bring his bride home, by applying for an offshore partner visa. The Department found the couple were half-siblings and refused the application. He then appealed the Department’s refusal, only to have the decision affirmed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
An appeal been made to the Federal Circuit Court where he has been waiting over a year for a hearing date.
The process has taken over 6 years thus far, and for all that time Mr Tadese has been separated from his wife and son. He suffers not only financially, but also mentally, being diagnosed with depression as a result of being separated from his family.
The Department does not require all partner visa applicants to submit to DNA testing. This only occurs if there is some suspicion the applicant and sponsor could be siblings.
An applicant, who has married an Australian sponsor in a foreign country, must marry in accordance with local civil law and Australian law.
The Australian Marriage Act prohibits the marriage of people if they are brother and sister which means whilst the DNA testing results stand, the marriage of Mr Tadese and Genet Abebe is void.
Mr Tadese’s case is an example that the Department investigates all partner visa applications scrupulously. Applicants should know that the investigation might lead to other information being discovered which may be used against them.