Baah and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral, which was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The refusal was based on the delegate not being satisfied of the applicant's identity, as required by section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The applicant sought review of this decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it could be positively satisfied as to the applicant's identity, in the sense of being "actually persuaded" of it, at the time of its decision. This required the Tribunal to reach an affirmative belief regarding the applicant's identity, rather than merely applying an evidentiary burden of proof. If the Tribunal could not be so satisfied, the prohibition under section 24(3) of the Act would apply, and the delegate's decision would be affirmed.

The Tribunal considered the applicant's claim to be a 41-year-old citizen of Ghana, who arrived in Australia in 2008 and was later granted a permanent spouse visa. The applicant provided various documents, including a Ghanaian birth certificate entry, a Ghanaian passport, and Australian identity documents. However, the Tribunal found significant issues with the provided evidence. These included inconsistencies in documents, missing crucial contextual information regarding their acquisition, unsigned or undated certificates, and a lack of verifiable information about the applicant's life story prior to her arrival in Australia. The Tribunal also noted the applicant's limited efforts to obtain further documentation from Ghana, despite having siblings residing there, and the absence of corroborating evidence from acquaintances or family members in Ghana. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that there were too many issues with the evidence and insufficient detail in the applicant's life story to be positively satisfied of her identity.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that it could not be positively satisfied of the applicant's identity for the purposes of section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007*.