Darlington (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for a Temporary Activity (Class GG) visa, Subclass 408, made by an applicant whose visa had been refused by the Department of Home Affairs. The core of the dispute concerned whether the applicant had provided sufficient evidence of her criminal history, as required by the relevant regulations.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of statements from appropriate authorities regarding an applicant's criminal history. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the certificates submitted by the applicant, an Australian Federal Police Digital National Police Certificate and a UK ACRO Criminal Records Office Police Certificate, constituted adequate evidence for this purpose.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the Department had initially requested these certificates and the applicant had failed to provide them before the delegate's refusal, the applicant subsequently submitted the required documents to the Tribunal. Upon review of these certificates, issued on 10 May 2024 and 9 May 2024 respectively, the Tribunal concluded that they met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). The Tribunal found it unnecessary to hold a hearing, as it could determine the matter in favour of the applicant based on the material before it.

Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant meets the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2) for a Subclass 408 visa.