Mohamed Ziard (Migration)

This matter concerned the review of a decision by the Department of Home Affairs to cancel Mr Mohamed Ziard's Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The applicant sought to have this cancellation decision affirmed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had failed to comply with the requirements of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) in a manner that justified the cancellation of his visa. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant had provided incorrect information in his visa application by failing to disclose criminal charges that were awaiting legal action at the time of his application.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 109 of the Act permits the Minister to cancel a visa if the holder has failed to comply with certain provisions, including section 104, which requires visa applicants to provide correct information and to notify the Department of any incorrect information of which they become aware. The Tribunal found that the applicant had failed to disclose that he had been charged with serious offences by Victoria Police on 14 August 2020, prior to the grant of his visa. The Tribunal concluded that this failure to disclose constituted non-compliance with section 104 of the Act. The Tribunal further noted that had the applicant disclosed these charges, they would have been considered in the assessment of whether he met the genuine temporary entrant criterion under clause 500.212 of the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth), which requires consideration of the applicant's circumstances as a whole.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the applicant's visa, finding that the grounds for cancellation under section 109 of the Act had been enlivened due to the applicant's failure to comply with his obligations under section 104.