Hansantiatanaded (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820, made by the applicant, Hansantiatanaded. The dispute arose from the Department's refusal of the visa application, which the applicant subsequently sought to have reviewed by the Tribunal. The core of the disagreement concerned whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements relating to the provision of criminal history statements from appropriate authorities.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had provided a statement from an appropriate authority in Australia that evidenced her criminal history status, as required by regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994. The Tribunal also considered whether a request for a completed Form 80 had been made, which would engage regulation 2.03AA(2)(b).

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had indeed provided statements from an appropriate authority, namely the Australian Federal Police, which certified that she had no disclosable court outcomes. While the Department had initially requested Australian and Thai police certificates, and the applicant initially only provided the Thai certificate, the subsequent provision of AFP National Police Certificates satisfied the regulatory requirement. The Tribunal found no evidence that a request for Form 80 had been made, thus regulation 2.03AA(2)(b) was not applicable.

Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant met the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2). The Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration, directing that the applicant be found to meet the specified criteria for the Subclass 820 visa.