Buddharaju (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Temporary Activity (Class GG) visa, Subclass 408, made by Mr. Buddharaju. The dispute concerned whether Mr. Buddharaju met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA of the Migration Regulations 1994, specifically concerning the provision of criminal history statements.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr. Buddharaju had satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2)(a), which requires an applicant to provide requested documentation or information relating to their criminal history. The applicant had initially failed to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) check or an overseas police check to the Department. However, during the review process, the applicant submitted an AFP Certificate for Immigration/Citizenship and a Police Clearance Certificate from the Government of India.

The Tribunal reasoned that as the applicant had now provided the requested police clearance certificates for each country he had resided in for at least 12 months in the past 10 years, he had complied with the requirements of regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). The Tribunal determined that it did not need to hold a hearing as it could find in favour of the applicant based on the submitted material. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2).