1506658 (Refugee)

This matter concerned an application for a protection visa by an applicant who appeared before the Tribunal with the assistance of an interpreter. The central dispute revolved around whether the applicant had provided a "bogus document" as evidence of his identity, which would mandate the refusal of his visa application under section 91WA of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine if the grant of a protection visa was prevented by section 91WA of the Act. This required the Tribunal to ascertain whether the applicant had provided a bogus document as evidence of his identity, and if so, whether he had a reasonable explanation for doing so and had taken reasonable steps to provide alternative documentary evidence. The Tribunal was also required to consider relevant policy guidelines and country information.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had provided two birth certificates as evidence of his identity, both of which were issued in October 2008 but purportedly signed in May 2013. The second birth certificate presented to the Tribunal differed from the first in its signature, contained a border, and listed a different permanent address. The applicant arrived in Australia in May 2013. While the applicant explained that his mother obtained the first birth certificate and that there was a mistake in the date of birth due to English being a second language, the Tribunal was not satisfied that this constituted a reasonable explanation for providing a bogus document.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision to refuse to grant the applicant a protection visa, as the requirements of section 91WA(1) were met and the exceptions under section 91WA(2) were not satisfied.