1913771 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel the Subclass 155 (Five Year Resident Return) visa held by the applicant, a male who arrived in Australia in June 2012 and was initially granted a protection visa. The cancellation was initiated due to concerns that the applicant had provided incorrect information in his protection visa application, specifically regarding his name, date of birth, visa history, and family members. The applicant had previously used the name [Name 1 Surname 1] for a Global Humanitarian (Subclass 202) visa application in 2009, and a facial image comparison report indicated the photographs from both applications were of the same person.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the decision to grant the applicant's protection visa was based, wholly or partly, on incorrect information or a bogus document, and to consider the circumstances in which any non-compliance occurred. The Tribunal also had to assess whether, in light of all relevant circumstances, the visa should be cancelled.

The Tribunal found that while the applicant had provided incorrect information regarding his visa history and family details in his initial protection visa application, this was largely due to a lack of knowledge of correct birthdates and spellings of family members' names at the time, and advice from people smugglers regarding his visa history. Crucially, the Tribunal was satisfied that the applicant would have been granted the protection visa even if the correct information had been disclosed, as the delegate had already established a well-founded fear of persecution based on his imputed political opinion. The Tribunal concluded that the decision to grant the visa was not based, in any part, on the incorrect information.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 155 visa and substituted a decision not to cancel it.