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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by DKCK. The dispute arose because the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs was not satisfied of the applicant's identity, a prerequisite for citizenship by conferral. The decision was made by Mrs J C Kelly, Senior Member, of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the Minister of his identity, as required by subsection 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). This was complicated by the applicant and his brothers being unregistered Faili Kurds from the country of origin, which meant they were unable to provide standard identity documentation, including biometrics.

The Senior Member accepted the applicant's life story and found the applicant and his brothers to be generally truthful witnesses, noting that any instances of untruthfulness, such as providing different dates of birth, were motivated by a desire to protect the applicant and were not indicative of an attempt to conceal their true identity for a positive outcome. While acknowledging evasiveness regarding education, the Senior Member concluded that the applicants' overall conduct was not consistent with deceptive behaviour. Consequently, the decision under review was set aside, and the matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration with a direction that the Minister be satisfied of the applicant's identity.