NMJB and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was asked to review a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse an application for Australian citizenship by conferral. The applicant, NMJB, sought to have this refusal set aside.

The central issue before the Tribunal was whether it was satisfied as to the identity of the applicant, a prerequisite for granting citizenship by conferral under the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the applicant had provided sufficient evidence to establish their identity, given the absence of both primary and secondary identity documents.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision to refuse the application. It reasoned that the applicant had failed to provide any primary identity documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, and had also failed to provide any acceptable secondary identity documents, such as a driver's licence or Medicare card, that could corroborate their identity. In the absence of such evidence, the Tribunal concluded it could not be satisfied as to the applicant's identity, and therefore the application for citizenship by conferral could not be granted.