Pope (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa, Subclass 820, made by an applicant who was the subject of a delegate's decision. The core dispute concerned whether the applicant had satisfied the character requirements for the visa, specifically by providing a statement from an appropriate authority regarding their criminal history.

The legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had met the requirements of regulation 2.03AA of the Migration Regulations 1994, which mandates the provision of a statement from an appropriate authority about a person's criminal history, unless waived by the Minister. This regulation is applicable when an applicant is required to satisfy public interest criterion 4001, which relates to passing the character test. The delegate had refused the visa on the basis that the applicant had not provided the requested police certificates from countries where they had resided for a cumulative period of 12 months or more in the last 10 years.

The Tribunal noted that the applicant had subsequently provided a National Police Certificate from the Australian Federal Police, dated 30 March 2021, which stated there were no disclosable court outcomes. The applicant also provided a statement confirming their arrival in Australia in 2004 and only brief holiday travel to New Zealand since then, which was consistent with departmental records. Given this new evidence, the Tribunal concluded that the appropriate course of action was to remit the application to the Minister for reconsideration of whether the applicant met public interest criterion 4001 and the remaining criteria for the grant of a Subclass 820 visa.