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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral made by the Applicant, Mr. Karimi, and reviewed by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The core dispute revolved around whether the Applicant had satisfied the identity requirements stipulated by section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The case was heard by Mr. A. Maryniak QC, a Member of the Tribunal.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant's identity could be established to the satisfaction of the Minister, considering the three pillars of identity: biometrics, documents, and life story. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the Applicant had provided sufficient credible evidence to satisfy the identity requirements, particularly in light of numerous inconsistencies in the information he had provided regarding his personal history, place and date of birth, and his family's circumstances.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the Applicant's "life story" pillar of identity, noting significant and numerous inconsistencies in the information provided over time. These included multiple conflicting birth dates, varying accounts of his expulsion from Iraq and place of birth, and discrepancies regarding his parents' origins and his father's immigration status in Iran. Crucially, the Tribunal found an implausibility in the Applicant's account of his financial capacity to fund his journey to Australia, given his prior claims of hardship and inability to secure well-paid employment. Applying the principle that a failure to demonstrate positive steps in obtaining identity documents, or an acceptable reason for such failure, weighs against an applicant, the Tribunal concluded that it could not be satisfied of the Applicant's identity.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that it could not be satisfied of the Applicant's identity as required by section 24(3) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth).