Ceitinn and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the case of Ceitinn and the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The dispute concerned the non-revocation of a mandatory cancellation of the applicant's Partner (Class BS) (Subclass 801) visa, following the applicant failing to pass the character test. The central question was whether there was another reason to revoke the mandatory cancellation decision, with regard to Ministerial Direction No. 99.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were to determine the nature and seriousness of the applicant's criminal offending and other conduct, and to assess whether these factors, when considered against the criteria in Ministerial Direction No. 99, constituted "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's visa. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider the categories of conduct deemed "very serious" and "serious" under the Direction, as well as other relevant considerations such as the sentence imposed, frequency of offending, cumulative effect, provision of false or misleading information, and re-offending after a warning.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the applicant's offending, which involved defrauding approximately 170 victims of over $2.2 million through fraudulent software schemes, was serious, it did not fall within the specific categories of conduct described as "very serious" in paragraph 8.1.1(1)(a) of Ministerial Direction No. 99. The Tribunal noted that the applicant personally benefited significantly from the unlawful activity and no compensation was paid to the victims. Despite the gravity of the offending, the Tribunal found that the applicant's conduct did not meet the threshold for "very serious" offending as defined in the Direction.

The Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted it with a new decision to revoke the mandatory cancellation of the applicant's visa.