Low Suggs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Subclass 401 Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) visa, Religious Worker stream, by an applicant who was required to satisfy Public Interest Criterion (PIC) 4001. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), constituted by Member Wan Shum, considered whether the applicant had met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of specific documentation regarding an applicant's criminal history when PIC 4001 is applicable.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) by providing a statement from an appropriate authority regarding her criminal history. The delegate had previously been unable to assess the applicant against PIC 4001 due to the non-provision of requested documents, specifically an overseas police certificate for each country where she had resided for 12 months or more in the preceding 10 years. The Tribunal was required to determine if the documentation subsequently provided by the applicant to the Tribunal met the requirements of the regulation.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had now complied with the request by providing a letter from the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, which certified that a search of her fingerprints revealed no prior arrest data at the FBI, while acknowledging this did not preclude state or local criminal history. The Tribunal found that this letter satisfied the criterion in regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application to the Minister with a direction that the applicant satisfied regulation 2.03AA, enabling the delegate to proceed with assessing whether the applicant met PIC 4001 and the other criteria for the Subclass 401 visa.