Khoshaba and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by conferral by Mr Khoshaba, an Iraqi national, and the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's refusal of that application. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was required to determine whether Mr Khoshaba had met the requirements for citizenship, specifically whether he had successfully completed the mandatory citizenship test.

The central legal issue before the AAT was whether the applicant, Mr Khoshaba, had satisfied the requirements of section 21(2A) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth), which mandates the successful completion of a citizenship test. This test is designed to assess an applicant's understanding of the application process, their knowledge of Australia, the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship, and their basic English language proficiency.

The AAT found that Mr Khoshaba had not successfully completed the citizenship test, despite numerous attempts between April and October 2017. The evidence showed that he sat the test 17 times, achieving a highest score of 70% and a lowest score of 35%, failing to reach the required 75% pass mark on every occasion. Mr Khoshaba acknowledged his limited English skills and confirmed he had not undertaken further study or tests after October 2017. The Tribunal accepted his explanations but concluded that, based on the evidence, he had not met the statutory requirement of successfully completing the test.