Pham (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by Mr. Pham for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820 (Spouse). The primary dispute concerned whether Mr. Pham had provided sufficient evidence of his criminal history, as required by migration regulations.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr. Pham had provided a statement from an appropriate authority that evidenced whether or not he had a criminal history. This involved assessing whether the applicant had met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA(2)(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The Tribunal found that while the Department had initially requested an updated Australian police certificate, and the applicant had not responded to those requests, the Tribunal itself had invited the applicant to provide the requested information. Crucially, the Tribunal received a Digital National Police Certificate dated 25 July 2023, which satisfied the requirement of regulation 2.03AA(2)(a). As there was no evidence that the original delegate had made a specific request for a statement from an approved authority, regulation 2.03AA(2)(b) was not applicable. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant met regulation 2.03AA(2).

The Tribunal remitted the application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa for reconsideration, with the direction that the applicant met the criteria under regulation 2.03AA(2) for a Subclass 820 visa.