Mehtab (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a decision to cancel the Subclass 500 (Student) visa of the applicant, Mehtab. The cancellation was based on the delegate's finding that the applicant had provided a bogus document and given incorrect information in his visa application, thereby contravening sections 101(b) and 103 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had failed to comply with the requirements of sections 101(b) and 103 of the Act, and if so, whether the visa cancellation was warranted. Section 101(b) mandates that a non-citizen must complete their visa application form without giving incorrect answers, while section 103 prohibits the provision of bogus documents. The applicant contended that his migration agent, acting without his specific authorisation, was responsible for the false information and the submission of a fraudulent document.

The Tribunal acknowledged that the applicant's migration agent provided a "Higher Secondary School Certificate" that integrity checks revealed was altered, with the year of completion and score differing from the official record. The applicant had declared in his application that he had provided complete and correct information. However, the Tribunal accepted the applicant's submission that he did not personally authorise the agent to provide false information and that the agent had a vested financial interest. In balancing the applicant's lack of direct culpability for the false information against the seriousness of providing a bogus document, the Tribunal found that the reasons not to cancel the visa outweighed the reasons for cancellation.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 500 (Student) visa and substituted a decision not to cancel it. The Tribunal also requested that the Department continue to monitor the applicant for future compliance.