Donnelly and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by Dr Donnelly. The delegate of the Minister refused to grant citizenship, and Dr Donnelly sought review of this decision before the Tribunal. The core of the dispute revolved around Dr Donnelly's period of unlawful non-citizenship in Australia and whether this precluded him from meeting the requirements for citizenship.

The Tribunal was required to determine three key issues: first, whether Dr Donnelly satisfied the general residence requirements under section 22 of the *Citizenship Act*; second, whether he met the special residence requirement under section 22B, particularly concerning work that necessitated regular travel outside Australia; and third, whether an administrative error led to his period of unlawful non-citizenship, and if so, whether the discretion under section 22B(5) should be exercised to excuse this.

The Tribunal found that Dr Donnelly did not satisfy section 22B(1)(g) of the *Citizenship Act*, which requires that a person not be present in Australia as an unlawful non-citizen at any time during the four years immediately preceding their citizenship application. While the Minister conceded that Dr Donnelly met certain aspects of the special residence requirement related to his work and travel, the presence of unlawful non-citizenship was a definitive bar. Consequently, Dr Donnelly could not satisfy the overall eligibility criteria under section 21(2)(c) of the *Citizenship Act*. The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse citizenship.