2105466 (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel the Contributory Parent (Class CA) visa, Subclass 143, held by the applicant, a female who arrived in Australia in March 2016. The applicant's visa was sponsored by her Australian citizen son. The cancellation was initiated by a delegate of the Minister on the grounds that the applicant had provided incorrect information in her visa application, specifically failing to disclose that she had been known by another name and had previously applied for a humanitarian visa. The applicant's daughter, who was also in Australia on a dependant visa, had her visa consequentially cancelled.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had failed to comply with section 101(b) of the Migration Act 1958 by providing incorrect answers in her visa application, and if so, whether the visa should be cancelled. The alleged non-compliance related to the applicant not disclosing a previous Global Special Humanitarian visa application made under an alias, and not declaring that she had been known by another name. The Tribunal was required to consider the evidence, including facial image comparisons linking the applicant and her daughter to previous visa applications made under different names, and the applicant's explanation for the discrepancies.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had indeed provided incorrect information in her visa application, as she had not disclosed her previous humanitarian visa application under an alias and had failed to declare she was known by another name. However, the Tribunal considered the circumstances surrounding this non-compliance. It noted that the applicant is an elderly woman who does not speak or read English and that the visa application forms were completed by her sons. The Tribunal also took into account the family's history of fleeing Afghanistan due to the abduction of a son by the Taliban, during which time he assumed an alias for safety, and the subsequent refugee status in Pakistan. While acknowledging that the incorrect information could have potentially impacted the visa grant, the Tribunal concluded that, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, the visa should not be cancelled.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted a decision not to cancel the applicant's Subclass 143 (Contributory Parent) visa.