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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral, brought by Mr Hashim against the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The applicant sought to challenge the decision refusing his citizenship application. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was asked to determine whether it had jurisdiction to consider the applicant's eligibility under incapacity criteria, given that he had used an incorrect application form.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed the jurisdiction to determine the applicant's eligibility for citizenship under the incapacity criteria. This question arose because the applicant had not used the prescribed form for individuals claiming incapacity, but rather a standard application form, and had declared he did not suffer from a permanent or enduring mental incapacity and did not require assistance with the citizenship test.

The Tribunal, applying the principles from the Full Federal Court decision in *SZJDS v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship* [2012] FCAFC 27, found that the applicant had not inadvertently completed the wrong form. The Tribunal distinguished between situations where a specific form is mandated and where a prescribed form is completed inaccurately. In the former scenario, strict compliance with the form requirement is essential, and using an incorrect form renders the application invalid. The Tribunal concluded that as the applicant had not used the form appropriate for his circumstances, and had explicitly declared he did not meet the criteria for the incapacity provisions, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to consider his eligibility under those provisions.