Kunoo (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding a decision made by the Minister concerning a Visitor (Class FA) visa, Subclass 600 (Visitor) (sponsored family stream). The applicant, Ms Naw, sought to visit her Australian citizen child. The central dispute revolved around whether Ms Naw had complied with a requirement to provide personal identifiers as mandated by the Minister under section 257A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The AAT was required to determine whether Ms Naw had provided the personal identifiers requested by the Minister, specifically fingerprint scans and a digital facial photograph, as authorised by section 257A and further regulated by regulation 2.04. The AAT also needed to consider whether Ms Naw met the criterion in clause 600.221 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, which relates to the intention to visit an Australian citizen child.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the Department's letters had requested both fingerprint scans and a digital photograph, the applicant had submitted a photograph from her passport, certified by VFS Global Myanmar Ltd., along with evidence of payment for biometrics collection. The Tribunal was satisfied that, irrespective of whether fingerprints were definitively provided, the applicant had supplied the "one or more" personal identifiers required. Furthermore, the Tribunal found that Ms Naw intended to visit her Australian citizen child, thus satisfying clause 600.221. Consequently, the AAT remitted the visa application to the Minister for reconsideration of the remaining criteria.