Muroiwa (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Ethel Philomina Muroiwa against a delegate's decision to refuse her application for a subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to review the delegate's decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Ms Muroiwa satisfied the requirements of clause 485.213 of the regulations, which stipulated that an application for a subclass 485 visa must be accompanied by evidence that the applicant had applied for an Australian Federal Police (AFP) check within the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that Ms Muroiwa had not met the requirements of clause 485.213. The Tribunal noted that Ms Muroiwa had declared in her application that she had not applied for an AFP check in the preceding 12 months. While Ms Muroiwa argued that English was not her first language and that she expected the Department to contact her for further evidence, as had occurred with previous visa applications, the Tribunal explained that this was not a matter within its discretion. The Tribunal highlighted that the requirement for evidence of an AFP check application was a mandatory criterion for the visa.