Madade (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for review of a delegate's decision to refuse a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa, Subclass 309. The applicant, Felistus Madade, had provided police certificates from Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa under her name. However, the delegate requested further information, specifically police certificates under any other names used in those jurisdictions, including the alias Felistus Mahambayedwa. The applicant did not respond in a timely manner to this request, leading to the visa refusal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had provided a statement from an appropriate authority that evidenced whether or not she had a criminal history, as required by subregulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations. This involved determining the suitability of police certificates provided under an alias.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant had subsequently provided the requested police certificates from Zimbabwe, issued by the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters, and from the South African Police Service, both pertaining to her alias. These documents were received by the Tribunal on the same date as the application for review. The Tribunal concluded that these statements were suitable for the purposes of subregulation 2.03AA(2)(a), thereby satisfying the character test requirement. Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2).