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

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse Mr Christian Bongely citizenship by conferral. The refusal was based on the grounds that Mr Bongely did not meet the good character requirements under section 21(2)(h) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) and that the delegate was not satisfied of his identity as required by section 24(3) of the Act. Mr Bongely applied for a review of this decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether it was satisfied of Mr Bongely's identity and whether he was a person of good character. These issues arose from concerns raised by the Department regarding inconsistencies in his date of birth across various documents, the assessment of some of his school records as counterfeit, an inconsistent date of birth on medical records, and a counterfeit asylum seeker permit. Mr Bongely had also provided documents that were assessed as non-authentic, leading to concerns about whether he had made a false or misleading declaration.

The Tribunal found that while there were inconsistencies in the Applicant's date of birth and some documents were assessed as non-authentic, it was more likely that these were due to carelessness rather than intentional dishonesty, particularly given the Applicant's apparent lack of motive for dishonesty and the Tribunal's assessment of his demeanour. The Tribunal accepted that the collective evidence from Mr Bongely's former girlfriend, church minister, and work colleagues supported the proposition that he was a person of good character, noting his positive attributes valued by his immediate community. The Tribunal ultimately found that the Applicant had not been careless in his engagement with the citizenship application process.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.