2118733 (Migration)

The applicant, a citizen of Pakistan, sought judicial review of the Minister's decision to cancel their Subclass 155 (Five Year Resident Return) visa. The cancellation was based on the applicant providing incorrect information in their visa application, specifically concerning their citizenship and the alleged death of their parents, which was supported by bogus death certificates. The applicant had also made Orphan Relative visa applications, which were dependent on the claimed family composition. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was tasked with determining the validity of the visa cancellation.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the applicant had, in fact, provided incorrect information in their visa application, and if so, whether this constituted a ground for cancellation under the relevant migration legislation. The Court also had to consider whether the applicant's circumstances, including their Hazara ethnicity, potential non-refoulement obligations, financial hardship, contribution to the community, and the best interests of their children, were relevant to the cancellation decision, particularly in light of the applicant's assertion that the ground for cancellation was not made out.

Her Honour Judge Raif found that the evidence did not establish that the applicant had provided incorrect information in their visa application. Consequently, the ground for cancellation was not made out. The Court reasoned that the applicant's claims regarding their family composition and the death certificates, while potentially misleading in the context of the Orphan Relative applications, did not necessarily render the information provided in the Subclass 155 visa application incorrect in a way that mandated cancellation. The Court therefore set aside the decision under review.