PATEL (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa, brought by the applicant, Mr. Patel, before the Tribunal. The dispute arose from the Department's refusal of the visa application, which was based on the applicant's failure to provide a criminal history statement from an appropriate authority, specifically an AFP Complete Disclosure certificate including all previously known names, as requested by the Department.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had satisfied the requirement under regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of a statement from an appropriate authority regarding the applicant's criminal history. This involved determining whether the documentation ultimately provided by the applicant constituted compliance with the regulation, despite the initial failure to provide the requested information within the timeframe set by the Department's delegate.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the applicant initially failed to provide the requested AFP Complete Disclosure certificate within the delegate's timeframe, instead submitting an affidavit regarding a different name, a copy of the AFP Complete Disclosure certificate dated 20 January 2020, which included the applicant's previously known names and confirmed no disclosable court outcomes, was subsequently provided to the Tribunal. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had now provided the requested statement from the appropriate authority, thereby meeting the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). Consequently, the Tribunal remitted the applications for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant meets this specific criterion.