Musa (Migration)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Muhammad Musa against the refusal of his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, Subclass 500. Mr Musa had been in Australia on a student visa since November 2017, and his application for a further student visa, lodged in March 2020, was refused by the delegate on 23 September 2021. The refusal was based on the delegate's finding that Mr Musa failed to satisfy Public Interest Criterion 4020, which relates to the provision of bogus documents or false or misleading information in support of a visa application or a previous visa held within the preceding 12 months.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Musa had provided a bogus document or false or misleading information in relation to his visa applications. Specifically, the delegate found that a Bachelor of Computer Science and Information Technology certificate, purportedly obtained in 2016 from NED University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan and submitted with a previous student visa application in October 2017, was a bogus document. Furthermore, Mr Musa had acknowledged that his enrolment in a Masters of Information Technology at the University of Melbourne was cancelled due to fraudulent admission documentation, and this cancellation occurred within 12 months of his current visa application.

The Tribunal noted that Mr Musa stated at the hearing that he did not complete the Bachelor's degree, despite it being submitted with his earlier application. He had also failed to respond to a section 57 notice issued by the department regarding the suspected bogus document. The Tribunal found that Mr Musa had acknowledged fraudulent documents were submitted in support of his previous Student Subclass 500 Visa, which he held until March 2020, within the 12-month period preceding his current application. The Tribunal was satisfied that Mr Musa understood the reasons for the delegate's decision. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.