Abdillahi and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for Australian citizenship made by Mr. Abdillahi. Mr. Abdillahi, a New Zealand citizen, had previously held a permanent spouse visa which ceased by operation of law when he departed Australia and did not return before its expiry. Upon his return to Australia, he was automatically granted a temporary Special Category visa. The delegate of the Minister for Home Affairs determined that Mr. Abdillahi did not meet the requirement of being a permanent resident for the 12 months preceding his citizenship application. Mr. Abdillahi then sought review of this decision by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to review the Minister's delegate's decision. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if Mr. Abdillahi was a "permanent resident" for the purposes of section 52(2) of the *Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) at the time he lodged his application for review with the Tribunal. This section dictates which decisions are reviewable by the Tribunal.

The Tribunal reasoned that its jurisdiction is not inherent but is conferred by statute. It found that section 52(2) of the *Citizenship Act* requires an applicant for review to be a permanent resident at the time of the application for review. As Mr. Abdillahi held a temporary Special Category visa, not a permanent visa, at the time he applied to the Tribunal, he did not meet this jurisdictional prerequisite. The Tribunal noted that while certain exceptions exist for New Zealand citizens regarding residence requirements for citizenship, these did not apply to Mr. Abdillahi's circumstances as he first arrived in Australia after the relevant date for those exceptions. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of Mr. Abdillahi's application.

The Tribunal ordered that the application for review be dismissed for want of jurisdiction, as it was satisfied that the decision under review was not reviewable by the Tribunal.