Goonewardena (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision to cancel the Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) visa held by the applicant, Ms. Goonewardena. The cancellation was based on allegations of the applicant providing incorrect information or bogus documents in her visa application, specifically concerning her employment history with two associated companies, Alpha 14 and Imagebuild. The Tribunal considered whether the applicant had breached sections 101 or 103 of the Migration Act 1958.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had provided incorrect answers in her visa application or presented bogus documents, thereby failing to comply with the requirements of her visa application, and whether the Minister had issued a valid notice under section 107 of the Act. The Tribunal also considered the validity of a certificate issued under section 375A of the Act, which purported to restrict the disclosure of certain documents due to third-party confidentiality and potential prejudice to an investigation.

The Tribunal found that the certificate issued under section 375A was invalid as it was not signed or dated by the issuing delegate. Furthermore, even if it had been validly issued, the Tribunal was unlikely to have found sufficient public interest grounds for its application, particularly as the documents in question related to the applicant and her employer, Imagebuild, rather than a third party. The Tribunal accepted the applicant's explanation of her employment history, which involved working for associated entities, and found that the extensive documentation provided, including statutory declarations and employment records, supported her claims. Consequently, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant had provided incorrect information or bogus documents, nor that she had failed to comply with the requirements of her visa application as alleged in the section 107 notices.

The Tribunal set aside the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 186 visa and substituted a decision not to cancel it.